INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of pupils enrolled in unregistered private schools in Africa.

Hilary Benn: We are not in a position to make valid estimates about the numbers of pupils enrolled in un-registered private schools in Africa. Partner Governments do not have statistics about such establishments because they do not feature in national data collection.

Africa

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which drought in Africa is caused by climate change;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of steps which can be taken to reduce the effects of drought in Africa.

Hilary Benn: DFID attaches great importance to helping developing countries adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. DFID is a leading supporter of international and national efforts to assess and reduce the impact of climate change efforts to eradicate poverty.
	Work to assess the potential impact of climate change on the incidence and intensity of droughts in Africa is in its early stages. We are helping African planners develop their national climate change adaptation strategies through three means: (a) provision of funds through the United Nations to help Africa adapt, including £10 million over three years (2005–06 to 2007–88) to the United Nations Climate Change Convention's Special Climate Change Fund; (b) helping to improve African climate monitoring networks and develop African regional climate centres through the G8 Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) initiative and (c) DFID's climate change research strategy.
	During 2005, the UK also led the G8 to commit to improving the way we manage climate risk when providing development assistance. The UK aims to have climate risk management procedures for overseas aid in place by 2008, in line with the Commission for Africa recommendation. We are working with the World Bank and other donors to progress this.

Africa

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his estimate is of the number of people in Africa affected by drought in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: We do not have precise figures for the last five years as these records are not held centrally, but estimate that around 30 million people experience food shortages every year in Africa. In many cases these shortages are associated with drought.

Chad

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received on aid for Sudanese refugees in Chad; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID is in regular contact with the UN and humanitarian agencies providing assistance to the Sudanese refugees in Eastern Chad, we will continue to closely monitor the humanitarian situation.
	The UK provided a total of £5 million for humanitarian support in Eastern Chad and, in line with the reduced request in the UN appeal, will provide £4 million in 2006.

Colombia

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is providing to displaced people in Colombia; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: DFID provides assistance to displaced people in Colombia through its 18 per cent. contribution to the European Commission's development assistance programme. The EC's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) made a commitment of €8.6 million to Colombia in 2003 through its Global Plan 2003, for Internally Displaced People and people affected by internal conflict in Colombia. The ECHO committed a further €8 million of humanitarian assistance for 2004 and €12 million in 2005. Additionally the EC is providing €105 million over the period 2001–06 to support alternative development, good governance and human rights projects in Colombia.

Departmental Expenditure

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the running costs were of his Department's offices in (a) Pretoria, (b) Brasilia, (c) Bangkok, (d) Montserrat, (e) Paris and (f) Rome in 2004–05.

Gareth Thomas: The running costs of DFID's offices in Pretoria, Brasilia, Bangkok, Montserrat, Paris and Rome in 2004–05 were as follows:
	
		£000
		
			 Office Expenditure 2004–05 
		
		
			 Pretoria (DFID Southern Africa) 3,725 
			 Brasilia (DFID Brazil) 884 
			 Bangkok (DFID South East Asia) 2,066 
			 Montserrat (Overseas Territories Department) 1,518 
			 Paris (UK Permanent Delegation to UNESCO) 455 
			 Rome (UK Permanent Representation to UN Agencies Rome) 587 
		
	
	Running costs include (but are not limited to) staff pay and other personnel overheads, office accommodation rental and maintenance, staff training, post, telecommunications and travel costs. DFID's office in Pretoria is the base for DFID Southern Africa and its budget includes running costs for Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland. DFID's office in Bangkok is the base for DFID South East Asia which covers Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, East Timor and Burma, as well as Thailand. However, in this case expenditure only includes running costs for the Bangkok office.

Dominican Republic (HIV/AIDS)

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the availability of anti-retrovirals and other treatment for those with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic, with particular reference to Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Hilary Benn: The 2002 census in the Dominican Republic records that only 80,000 people identified themselves as being born outside of the country. However, Amnesty International estimates that there are between 700,000 and 800,000 people of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, out of a total population of 8.56 million. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimate that the prevalence of HIV infection is below 2 per cent. nationally but this figure is up to 5 per cent. in the bateyes (local communities) living near sugar plantations, where a significant proportion of immigrants of Haitian descent live.
	While the Presidential AIDS Council (COPRESIDA) made significant progress towards universal access to prevention, treatment and care in the last three years, and has a policy of universal provision of anti-retroviral treatment (ARV), there is no specific policy of providing ARVs to non-nationals. The total number of people living with HIV and AIDS, who require ARV treatment, is not known. At January 2006, some 2,700 patients were receiving ARVs, likely to be substantially less than 50 per cent. of those in need of treatment.
	Amnesty International is planning to issue a report on HIV and human rights in the Dominican Republic in May. It is expected to find that the treatment, care and prevention services for HIV and AIDS in the bateyes, where many Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent live, is very limited.

Latin America

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how his Department is working with local communities in Latin America on the (a) aims, (b) design, (c) implementation and (d) evaluation of development projects;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to strengthen civil society in Latin America through co-operation with local communities.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports local communities in Latin America through its work with the International Finance Institutions (IFI), particularly the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank (IADB), and through direct support to non-governmental organisations (NGO)s. The range of community involvement in IFI supported and civil society programmes is illustrated by the following examples.
	Through engagement with the IADB and the World Bank, DFID is supporting greater involvement of civil society and local communities in IFI programmes and processes, such as consultations around development and evaluation of IFI country strategies. In Brazil, the UK is helping local communities give their own assessment of the impact of the Federal Government's conditional cash transfer programme, the Bolsa Familia. This programme provides a monthly cash benefit to a current total of 8.7 million poor families across the country, which is conditional on children attending school and immunisation programmes. The UK is also contributing to a programme to enhance the capacity of indigenous people's organisations throughout Amazonia. Indigenous leaders meet regularly, receive training together, and consider how to promote their entitlements to services and to strengthen social cohesion in Amazon communities.
	DFID supports the IADB to promote community participation in the design and implementation of its programmes in Central America. For example, support was recently provided to local communities in the remote cross-border area between Honduras (El Paraiso) and Nicaragua (Nueva Segovia) to strengthen cross-border development plans.
	With civil society in Brazil, the UK is working with local communities to raise awareness of how institutional racism can be a barrier to poor people in the Afro-Brazilian population receiving the public services to which they are entitled. This work has been implemented through new partnerships between municipal authorities and civil society organisations in two states in the poor North East of Brazil, Pernambuco and Bahia, through the Programme to Combat Institutionalised Racism.
	In the Andes region, DFID is working to strengthen awareness among civil society and community groups of their right to information about policy processes and to engage with policy makers, both within Government and donors. In Peru, DFID's rights-based approach to development put working with local communities central to its purpose. The substantial partnership between Oxfam and DFID through the Derechos, Inclusion y Desarrollo (Rights, Inclusion and Development) programme has taken DFID's support on these issues right down to the community level.
	In Nicaragua, DFID contributes to the multi-donor civil society fund in Nicaragua administered by the local in-country offices of Oxfam Great Britain and Trocaire. This fund is designed to provide direct grants to local grassroots civil society to help them build governance from the bottom up and engage in development planning processes as well as social auditing of Government development programmes. DFID has supported the IADB to strengthen civil society through co-operation with local communities.
	DFID also provides direct support to civil society in Latin America through Partnership Programme Arrangements with six international NGOs and through the Civil Society Challenge Fund. Many of the activities supported through these channels would involve local communities.

Latin America

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department sets development strategies to target (a) poverty and (b) inequality in Latin America.

Gareth Thomas: Latin America has high levels of persistent and severe poverty and inequality. According to 2004 national poverty line data collected by the United Nations, 42.9 per cent. of the population of Latin America live in poverty and 18.6 per cent. live in extreme poverty. The levels of extreme poverty are higher among indigenous and afro-descendant people.
	DFID's strategy for Middle Income Countries (MIC) provides the framework for how DFID works to reduce poverty and inequality in Latin America. DFID's main financial contributions to Latin America are through direct contributions to the multilateral institutions (the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission and the United Nations). As recommended by the MICs Strategy, DFID uses its bilateral programme (£11 million in 2005–06 and £12 million in 2006–07) for Latin America to maximise the effectiveness of our multilateral contribution by working to enhance the overall impact of the international system in the region. DFID's assistance to Latin America from 2004–07 is set out in the Regional Assistance Plan, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	DFID is working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank to strengthen their focus and impact on poverty, inequality and exclusion. DFID assistance to the IADB and the World Bank aims to strengthen the access of poor and excluded people to local and national markets, to the benefits of international trade, and to accountable and more responsive public systems. A recent example of support to the IADB was in the development of an indigenous people's strategy, which sets out how the World Bank should assess the impact of new programmes and loans on indigenous people.
	DFID is working to improve the ability of Governments to develop and monitor poverty reduction strategies and the extent to which donor assistance is consistent with these strategies by promoting and exchanging regional lesson learning. DFID is also facilitating lesson sharing on global policy issues including trade, HIV and AIDS and global environmental issues.
	DFID also is providing over £10 million in 2005–06 to British non-governmental organisations (NGO)s in the region by funding projects through its Civil Society Challenge Fund and through its Partnership Programme Agreements with six international NGOs.

Latin America

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the role of microfinance in the development of poor Latin American communities; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what proportion of his Department's budget to support microfinance projects went to Latin America in the last period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what microfinance organisations his Department supports in Latin America;
	(4)  which 20 non-governmental organisations working in Latin America received the highest amount of grant from his Department for microfinance or microcredit projects in each year since 1997.

Gareth Thomas: Lack of access to affordable credit is a persistent constraint to livelihoods of the poor in Latin America. For both formal and informal small scale enterprises, which are the main employers of the poor in urban and rural areas, limited forms of formal collateral exclude them from access to borrowing from the formal financial sector. Microfinance institutions have an important role to play in meeting this gap for small enterprises and producers. However, microfinance institutions can also have high transaction and operation costs and frequently rely on external, often donor, financing.
	Many donors, including the International Financial Institutions, are working on instruments that will guarantee loans to the poor, as well institutional models that will enable larger financial institutions to extend financial services to poorer communities and small enterprises. In the meantime, microfinance institutions continue to play a crucial role in meeting the demands of the poor for financial services tailored to their particular needs.
	If microfinance remains reliant on donor grants, it will always be limited and not reach the scale possible through involvement of the private sector. By combining the strengths of microfinance non-governmental organisations (NGO)s (microfinance expertise, community presence, commitment to serving very poor people) and those of banks (financial resources, information technology, payment systems), massive increases can be made in providing microfinance to the poor. The experience of ICICI Bank in India, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Bancosol in Bolivia clearly demonstrate this. ProFund Internacional (ProFund), based in Costa Rica, targets the small and microenterprises (SMEs) of Latin America and the Caribbean. Major shareholders of ProFund include the InterAmerican Development Bank, IFC/The World Bank Group and CDC.
	Globally, DFID has supported microfinance and financial sector projects in 25 countries. In Latin America, DFID is working closely with partner governments to improve the institutional framework within which microfinance institutions operate. DFID's Regional Assistance Plan for Latin America aims to improve the impact of International Finance Institutions (particularly the World Bank and Inter American Development Bank (IADB) on poverty and inequality. This includes working with the IADB and the World Bank to strengthen the access of poor and excluded people to local and national markets, including access to micro-credit. In Nicaragua, DFID is providing $150,000 to an International Finance Corporation initiative to support the microfinance industry to develop new products and lending models specifically targeted at the small enterprise sector. In Bolivia, DFID is in dialogue with the new Government on the institutional structure for microfinance, informed by an analysis of models for credit services to poor rural producers.
	Microfinance has often tended to be a component of wider DFID projects. For example, the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) Alternative Development project in the Lower Huallaga Valley, Peru (completed in 2004), which worked with farmers to increase their incomes from alternative livelihoods and avoid a reactivation of the illegal cultivation of coca. A similar project in San Martin region of Peru included microfinance and supported small-scale production, agro-processing and environmental education to improve incomes and employment of poor producers.
	DFID's fund allocations are determined by country and region rather than by sector. The overall budget for microfinance and the proportion allocated for Latin America is therefore not readily available.
	DFID has Partnership Programme Arrangements (PPAs) with six international NGOs for their programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean. While these PPAs cover a wide range of work, it is expected that the following would include microfinance elements; CARE, CAFOD, Christian Aid and Oxfam.

Microfinance Organisations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what process microfinance organisations must complete in order to be eligible for support from his Department.

Hilary Benn: DFID provides support to financial sector development, primarily through its country-based aid programmes.
	DFID works in partnership with Governments, civil society and with the private sector to implement countries' growth and poverty reduction strategies. DFID agrees Country Assistance Plans (CAPs) that set out in detail country-level programmes, based on our partners' priorities.
	Microfinance is widely recognised as useful in contributing to reducing poverty and reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). Where support is being given to microfinance organisations, DFID may set up umbrella programmes" for the financial sector, usually in partnership with other donors and international financial institutions. DFID has supported such microfinance and financial sector programmes in 25 countries.
	Microfinance organisations can access DFID support if their request for funding meets the requirements of these programmes.
	At a central or regional level, DFID is supporting programmes such as, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a consortium of 33 public and private development agencies working together to expand access to financial services, including microfinance services. Another example is MicroSave, which promotes the development of savings and other more client-responsive financial services among microfinance institutions.
	For further details, microfinance organisations should approach the local DFID office. Contact details are on DFID internet site on www.dfid.gov.uk

Malawi

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources were allocated to Malawi to combat HIV/AIDS amongst (a) children and (b) adults in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: DFID committed £4.5 million through the Malawi National AIDS Commission and £100 million through the Malawi Ministry of Health for its Essential Health Package which includes the treatment of AIDS patients and the related Emergency Human Resource Programme. The latter programme is designed to increase the numbers and skills of health professionals so that anti-retroviral treatment can be rolled without undermining progress to other health targets. DFID is also financing prevention and mitigation programmes in education and in prisons.
	It is not possible to apportion spend between adults and children. Total DFID expenditure on combating HIV and AIDS through the National AIDS Commission, the Ministries of Health and Education and other projects has been:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 14 
			 2001–02 12 
			 2002–03 21 
			 2003–04 22 
			 2004–05 18 
			 2005–06 17 
		
	
	In addition, we estimate that 5 per cent. of DFID's budget support has been spent on HIV and AIDS by the Government of Malawi. This HIV and AIDS expenditure was as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2002–03 0.3 
			 2003–04 0.5 
			 2004–05 0.925 
			 2005–06 2.315 
		
	
	Malawi also benefits from DFID support for the Global Fund and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Malawi

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total amount of UK aid to Malawi was in each of the last 10 years in real terms.

Hilary Benn: The following table includes details of the total amount of UK aid to Malawi in real terms:
	
		UK aid to Malawi -- Real prices as at 2004: £ million
		
			  Estimate of UK share of: 
			  Bilateral aid Multilateral aid Of which: EC Total 
		
		
			 1994 46.97 12.4 5.0 59.4 
			 1995 37.8 14.0 9.6 51.8 
			 1996 64.7 15.5 5.5 80.2 
			 1997 20.4 10.6 3.2 31.0 
			 1998 39.2 18.4 7.8 57.5 
			 1999 53.6 8.8 8.1 62.4 
			 2000 70.9 14.0 8.0 85.0 
			 2001 49.9 19.7 8.3 69.6 
			 2002 35.1 6.1 4.4 41.2 
			 2003 69.5 14.9 5.6 84.4 
			 2004 65.2 n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Note:
	2003 is latest year available for imputed multilateral shares.
	Source:
	OECD DAC online database and SRSG Imputed Multilateral Shares. Date: 13 March 2006.

Malawi

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the date was of the last official visit by him or his predecessor to Malawi.

Hilary Benn: I last visited Malawi as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in October 2001. My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, made an official visit to Malawi in October 2005, accompanied by my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton), the Minister of State for health services. They examined progress with the implementation of HIV and AIDS programmes, the Essential Health Package and the associated Emergency Human Resources Programmes to which DFID has committed £100 million.

Mauritania

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will increase UK aid to Mauritania.

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development does not have a bilateral development programme in Mauritania. Our support is mainly through multilateral channels, such as European Commission and World Bank programmes, of which the UK share amounted to £9.2 million in 2003 (latest available figure). Our bilateral aid in 2004 was £280,000 which was mainly for humanitarian assistance. We have no plans to increase our assistance.

Mauritania

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was given to Mauritania in (a) 1980 and (b) 2004.

Hilary Benn: The United Kingdom has provided the following amounts of aid to Mauritania; £40,000 in 1980 and £280,000 in 2004.
	DFID also provides significant support through multilateral channels, such as the European Commission and World Bank programmes, of which the UK's share amounted to £4 million in 1982 (earliest year for which figures are available) and £9.2 million in 2003 (latest available year for figures).

Middle East

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the implications of the Palestinian elections on international aid for Palestinian development.

Hilary Benn: I refer my hon. Friend for West Lancashire to the oral response that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on 1 March 2006, Official Report, column 247.

Private Office

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost of his private office was in the last year for which figures are available.

Hilary Benn: It is difficult to separate out completely the running costs of my private office from the total expenditure of DFID's Top Management Group, which includes the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Permanent Secretary, the directors general and their staff.
	For the financial year 2004–05, the best estimate of my private office running cost expenditure is £1,079,254. This includes salaries for myself and staff (including the parliamentary and correspondence units and special advisers), travel and subsistence, training, subscriptions, post and telecommunications, and other office services.

Public Service Agreements

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress his Department has made towards achieving Target 4 of the Public Service Agreement Objectives and Targets for 2003 to 2006.

Hilary Benn: There has been some slippage on progress towards Target 4 of DFID's Public Service Agreement Objectives and Targets for 2003 to 2006. Progress with the current round of trade negotiations is the main influence on this target, and this depends on the actions of the EU and others within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). After the failure of the Cancun WTO Ministerial in September 2003, there was no likelihood of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) being completed by 1 January 2005. Thus the original target, which was always challenging, was unachievable. However, the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December 2005 delivered enough progress to keep the prospect of concluding the DDA in 2006 alive. The Government are therefore pressing for an outcome to these trade talks which delivers real gains for developing countries.

Sudan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in (a) Darfur and (b) Southern Sudan.

Hilary Benn: The information is as follows:
	Darfur
	Across the whole of Darfur, there are 1.8 million internally displaced people and 3.4 million dependent on humanitarian assistance. The priority is to provide assistance and protection for them, and to find a political solution that will allow people to return home and rebuild their lives.
	Although the massive humanitarian response in Darfur has had a positive impact on malnutrition and mortality rates, the region remains highly dependant on food aid. This year there is expected to be above average food production, but the ability of Darfur to bring in the harvest depends on security which remains extremely fragile in many areas. Even with a good harvest, an estimated three million people in Darfur will still require food aid.
	Instability, fighting and banditry in South and West Darfur, particularly along the border zone with Chad, is severely hampering humanitarian agencies operating in those areas. Violence and attacks on humanitarian agencies' staff and assets has lead to a reduction in presence, and total withdrawals in some areas, by both the UN and NGOs, leaving many vulnerable people with a greatly reduced level of assistance. Until a political settlement is reached to end the fighting and re-impose the rule of law, the civilian population of Darfur will continue to bear the heaviest burden.
	The UK is the second largest bilateral humanitarian donor in Darfur (after the US), providing over £96 million since September 2003. These funds have meant that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people have been provided with shelter, food, water and basic health care. The UK is also actively supporting the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, in the search for a sustainable political settlement.
	South Sudan
	The humanitarian situation remains fragile. Pockets of instability, noticeably in the Upper Nile, Eastern and Western Equatoria have resulted in continued internal displacement. A recent cholera outbreak in and around Yei and Juba underlines the threat of disease and the imminent rainy season will only serve to increase the difficulties faced by vulnerable people, and the humanitarian agencies ability to assist them.
	While this year's harvest is predicted to be good, there will continue to be areas of high vulnerability due to insecurity and poor market access. Malnutrition levels in many areas are commensurate with, and in some cases worse than, those found in Darfur.
	To date, the large number of returns of refugees and internally displaced people predicted by the UN has still not taken place. Although there is still potential for significant movement in the run-up to the rainy season, this is considered unlikely. To support the returns process, the UK is providing early and significant contributions to the UN 2006 Work plan, from which the UN humanitarian co-ordinator has already allocated over $40 million to the South.
	In addition to funding vital non-governmental organisations (NGOs) humanitarian programmes in the South, the UK is providing financial support to an emergency response fund for the South to deal with emergencies, such as the cholera outbreak. For longer term recovery and development, the UK is establishing the £10 million service delivery fund which will act as a bridge to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund while it develops projects for funding to meet longer term development needs.

Sudan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the recent outbreak of cholera in Sudan; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent the disease spreading.

Hilary Benn: DFID have been closely monitoring the cholera outbreak in Southern Sudan since it began late January. The outbreak started in Yei town in Southern Sudan and subsequently spread to Juba and a dozen other towns further East and North. To date (12 March) 212 people have died from the disease from a case load of 6,744. The recent outbreak and its subsequent rapid spread to neighbouring towns underlines the threat of disease while the imminent onset of the rainy season will serve to increase the difficulties faced by vulnerable people.
	DFID has been active in supporting the co-ordination of response efforts in the South and in monitoring the situation. The emergency preparedness and response unit managed by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) together with the World Food Organisation (WHO) have been at the forefront of co-ordinating the response to the outbreak. DFID has been working closely with OCHA providing technical advice, support and funding.
	Through the Emergency Response Fund (ERF) of UNOCHA, DFID has provided over $350,000 to eight UN agencies and non-governmental organisations assisting with the response to the cholera outbreak. An additional $750,000 of DFID funds remains with the ERF for continued assistance to agencies if the disease spreads further.
	In addition to support for such chronic and rapid onset emergencies, the UK is providing early and significant contributions to the UN 2006 Work plan, from which the UN humanitarian co-ordinator has already allocated over $40 million to the South including an allocation of US $500,000 to the Emergency Response Fund. The UN humanitarian co-ordinator additionally holds an emergency reserve of $10 million (to which DFID was a significant contributor) which could be accessed to scale up the response to the outbreak should the need arise.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Overseas Voters

Nigel Evans: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to his Oral Answer of 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 605, on overseas voters, whether he has received any further information from the Electoral Commission on the number of (a) parliamentary constituencies with no registered overseas voters and (b) such voters registered in Ribble Valley constituency.

Peter Viggers: In my answer in the House on 6 March, I stated that there were 45 parliamentary constituencies with no registered overseas voters, and that there were four such voters registered in the Ribble Valley constituency. These figures, based on registers as at 1 December 2005, had been given to me by the Electoral Commission. I have now been informed by the Commission that these figures are incorrect, and that there were only 14 parliamentary constituencies with no registered overseas voters and that there were 45 such voters registered in the Ribble Valley constituency. The Commission has advised me that this mistake arose from a misinterpretation on its part of the relevant ONS data. I regret having given the House incorrect information and welcome this opportunity to correct the record.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the merits of conducting an employability and capability assessment immediately an initial claim for employment and support allowance is made.

Margaret Hodge: In the Green Paper; A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work"; we have proposed that the assessment phase should last three months. During this time we will assess both a claimant's eligibility for benefit and capability for work. Assessing an individual at a relatively early stage of their claim allows us to intervene early to maximise their chances of returning to work. However, many people will be on employment and support allowance for very short periods of time and so carrying out assessments too early in a claim could lead to nugatory assessments taking place.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hours a week Sir David Henshaw will spend as the chair of the Child Support Agency Operational Improvement Plan.

James Plaskitt: Sir David Henshaw has not been asked to be the chair of the Child Support Agency Operational Improvement Plan. Delivery of the content of the plan is a matter for the agency chief executive, Stephen Geraghty.
	However as announced on 9 February by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Sir David has been asked to lead the work to redesign the child support system. The full terms of reference for this work are in the Library and on the Department for Work and Pensions website at www.dwp.gov.uk/childsupport
	Sir David has been asked to deliver his findings to the Secretary of State by summer recess.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 233W, on child support, how many times the Child Support Agency has used the discretionary power under section 41A of the Child Support Act 1991 to issue penalty payments in each year since 2001.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Hilary Reynolds
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is currently on leave, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27th February 2006 Official Report column 233W on child support if he will give details of the number of times the Child Support Agency has used the discretionary power under section 41A of the Child Support Act 1991 to issue penalty payments in each year since 2001.
	The Agency does not currently collect volumes of the number of penalty payments either requested from non-resident parents or paid under Section 41A of the Child Support Act 1991.

Fuel Costs (Pensioners)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to reduce the effect on pensioners of increases in the cost of gas and electricity.

Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions already assists pensioners meet the costs of gas and electricity bills through the winter fuel payment.
	The winter fuel payment is a significant contribution towards fuel costs. The payment has risen above the level of inflation, from £20 in winter 1997–98 to £200 from winter 2000–01 and to £300 for those aged 80 or over from winter 2003–04.
	New processes have also been developed between The Pension Service and the Home Heat Helpline", a private sector run and funded fuel poverty helpline launched in October 2005, which help to maximise the take-up of benefits, help from the utilities companies and warm front grants.

Legal Services Commission

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's work of the decision by the Legal Services Commission to withdraw funding for specialised support and advice in relevant areas.

James Plaskitt: Specialist support services are part of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) special projects budget that was reviewed in the summer 2005. The LSC concluded that as specialist support services provide advice in civil categories of law to other legal advisers and not directly to clients, this did not represent the most cost-effective approach to meet the increasing need for front-line advice. The LSC has therefore decided not to continue funding for specialist support from July 2006.
	The LSC's decision to withdraw funding for specialist support services will refocus resources within the existing civil legal aid budget in England and Wales. It is not intended to increase or decrease costs overall. It will mean that £2.3 million will be redirected to fund direct legal advice in the next financial year, thereby increasing access to legal services for vulnerable people.
	The LSC invited all the practitioners and specialist advice services funded under the current system to discuss how they can advise clients and consumers directly, rather than through a second-tier system.
	The Department for Work and Pensions is working with the LSC and the Department for Trade and Industry, as part of a national agenda to tackle rising levels of debt, to pilot a number of innovative new advice services to help people facing financial exclusion, following a £6 million grant from the Treasury's Financial Inclusion Fund.
	In terms of advice on benefits and pensions matters, there is already wide expertise and knowledge within the advice sector, and the Department for Work and Pensions, which already has excellent relationships with key national advice providers, will continue to provide for advisers comprehensive information about its legislation and procedures.

Lone Parents

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact the introduction of work focused interviews has had on the numbers of lone parents entering employment.

Margaret Hodge: Information is not available on the numbers entering employment as a direct and sole result of the introduction of lone parent Work Focused Interviews, however, research has demonstrated that these interviews have increased participation in new deal for lone parents by approximately 15 per cent. The success of new deal for lone parents has been a major contributing factor to the increase in lone parent employment in every region, the reduction in the number of children in workless households and the reduction in child poverty, and, so far, it has helped more than 423,000 lone parents into work
	Research has also shown that the introduction of Work Focused Interviews (WFIs) for lone parents with ongoing claims has increased the proportion of people leaving income support by between one and two percentage points.
	Relevant reports on outcomes from lone parent interventions are: Department for Work and Pensions Research Report W237 'Evaluation of Lone Parent Work Focused Interviews Eligibility: Administrative Data Analysis' Genevieve Knight and Steve Lissenburgh, Policy Studies Institute. November 2005, and Department for Work and Pensions Research Report W159 'Evaluation of Lone Parent Meetings: Interim findings from administrative data analysis' Genevieve Knight and Michael White, Policy Studies Institute, May 2003; and DWP Research Report W315 'Lone Parent Work Focused Interviews and Review Meetings: Administrative data analyses and qualitative evidence' which provides longer term analysis of the impact of Work Focused Interviews on the number of lone parents leaving income support. All of these reports are available in the Library.

National Insurance

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women who paid a full stamp and additional class 3 voluntary contributions for a period when they were unable to work are now receiving a full pension as a result.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available. Class 3 contributions have only been recorded separately since 1975 and since then it has only been possible to readily distinguish full tax years in which only Class 3 contributions have been paid. However, around 17 per cent. of female pensioners receive a full basic state pension based on their own national insurance record of contributions paid while working, by voluntary contributions and credits.

New Deal

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government have commissioned research since 1998 into the effect of the new deal on job search activity among 18 to 24-year-olds.

Margaret Hodge: The new deal for young people has been successful in helping nearly 650,000 young people into work and has helped to virtually eradicate long-term youth unemployment. A number of independent research reports on new deal for young people, commissioned by this Department, have looked at the impact of the programme on the job search activity of programme participants.
	A report by Social and Community Planning Research 1 found that participants on new deal for young people greatly appreciated the support they received from their new deal personal advisers, which included: help with looking for vacancies; assistance with contacting employers; referral to other appropriate agencies and discussions about long-term career plans.
	The new deal for young people national survey 2 3 which reports on interviews with over 6,000 programme participants, includes a considerable amount of information on the job search activity of people who have taken part in the programme. A high proportion of respondents reported discussing methods of job search and their responsibilities as jobseekers with their new deal personal adviser.
	Research from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research 4 published in 2000, reported positively about the impact of new deal for young people. Increased youth employment was in part attributed to a programme that provided job search assistance and support, together with intensive full time new deal options including the full time education and training option and the employment option.
	The reports referred to are listed as follows and are available in the Library.
	1 New Deal for Young Unemployed People: The Gateway", SCPR, Employment Service Report 8, December 1998.
	2 New Deal for Young People: National Survey of Participants: Stage 1", Alex Bryson et al, Employment Service Report 44, March 2000.
	3 New Deal for Young People: National Survey of Participants: Stage 2", Dorothe Bonjour et al, Employment Service Report 67, March 2001.
	4 New Deal for Young People: Implications for Employment and the Public Finances", Rebecca Riley and Garry Young, Employment Service Report 62, 2000.

Pension Credit

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Oxford, East constituency receive pension credit; and how many have received it in each year since its inception.

Stephen Timms: The number of people in receipt of pension credit in the parliamentary constituency of Oxford, East November 2003-August 2005 is as follows:
	
		Thousand
		
			  Households Individual beneficiaries 
		
		
			 November 2003 3.0 3.5 
			 August 2004 3.6 4.2 
			 August 2005 3.7 4.3 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands.
	2. Pension credit (PC) replaced minimum income guarantee (MIG) on 6 October 2003.Existing MIG recipients were automatically converted onto pension credit on that date (assuming they still met the eligibility criteria).
	3. Parliamentary constituency are assigned by matching postcodes against the ONS postcode directory.
	4. Beneficiaries figures include those who are aged 60 or under.
	5. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of pension credit. The number of individual beneficiaries is the claimants plus their partners.
	Source:
	Information Directorate: 100 per cent. Work and Pension Longitudinal Study (WPLS). From 27 October 2005 the preferred data source for pension credit time series figures supplied by the Information Directorate is the Work and Pension Longitudinal Study (WPLS).

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Libraries

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many new mobile lending library services have been opened in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many mobile public lending libraries have closed in each of the last 10 years.

David Lammy: The number of mobile libraries in England in each of the last 10 years was as follows:
	
		Mobile libraries in England
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1995–96 496 
			 1996–97 491 
			 1997–98 476 
			 1998–99 468 
			 1999–2000 470 
			 2000–01 465 
			 2001–02 473 
			 2002–03 462 
			 2003–04 461 
			 2004–05 433 
		
	
	Source:
	Public Library Statistics 2004–05 Actuals, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and LISU Annual Library Statistics 2005 (derived from CIPFA Actuals figures 1995–96 to 2003–04).

Libraries

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many new public lending libraries have been opened in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many public lending libraries have closed in each of the last 10 years.

David Lammy: The number of static public libraries in England in each of the last 10 years was as follows.
	
		Static libraries in England(1)
		
			 Number 
			  60+ 45–59 30–44 10–29 <10 
		
		
			 1995–96 9 467 1,322 1,315 160 
			 1996–97 7 463 1,319 1,294 155 
			 1997–98 6 449 1,279 1,323 157 
			 1998–99 11 437 1,242 1,347 150 
			 1999–2000 11 458 1,222 1,340 132 
			 2000–01 19 469 1,206 1,331 130 
			 2001–02 28 493 1,199 1,311 115 
			 2002–03 42 598 1,168 1,240 91 
			 2003–04 51 683 1,143 1,186 80 
			 2004–05 69 727 1,139 1,106 96 
		
	
	(1) By hours open per week.
	Source:
	Public Library Statistics 2004–05 Actuals, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and LISU Annual Library Statistics 2005 (derived from CIPFA Actuals figures 1995–96 to 2003–04).

Sports Fields/Playing Fields

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for what length of time local authority-owned sports grounds must remain unused before they can be disposed of without (a) the permission of and (b) consultation with (i) the Secretary of State and (ii) Sport England.

Richard Caborn: Local authorities are not required either to seek the permission of or consult the Secretary of State over the disposal or development of sports grounds.
	Sport England is a statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting playing fields, land used as playing fields, or land allocated for use as playing fields in a current development plan. This includes being consulted on applications affecting any land that has been used as a playing field in the last five years and any replacement of a grass pitch with a synthetic surface.

Sports Fields/Playing Fields

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many local authorities have publicly available lists of sports fields; and how many local authorities have published a playing fields strategy.

Richard Caborn: The number of local authorities who draw up and publish lists of sports fields and playing fields strategies is not collated centrally.
	However, the Active Places database lists publicly available sports facilities across the whole of England, including sports fields.
	Furthermore, the relevant planning guidance—planning policy guidance note 17: planning for open space, sport and recreation—requires that all local authorities should carry out assessments of needs and audits of open space and sports and recreational facilities, including playing fields, from which to develop effective strategies and appropriate policies.

Sports Fields/Playing Fields

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria a playing field must meet before it can be considered for disposal under the statutory consultation process.

Richard Caborn: The relevant planning guidance—planning policy guidance note 17: planning for open space, sport and recreation—requires that existing sports land, including playing fields, should not be disposed of or built on unless an assessment has been undertaken which clearly shows the land to be surplus to requirements. It is expected that open space, sports and recreational facilities that are of a high quality or of particular value to a local community should be given protection by local authorities through appropriate policies.
	Where such an assessment has not been undertaken, PPG17 requires that planning permission for any development be refused, unless it meets one of the following criteria:
	(i) it is ancillary to the use of the site as a playing field and does not adversely affect the quantity or quality of pitches and their use;
	(ii) it only affects land which is incapable of forming a playing pitch;
	(iii) the playing field that would be lost as a result of the proposed development would be replaced by another of equivalent or better quantity or quality and in a suitable location;
	(iv) it is for an outdoor or indoor sports facility of sufficient benefit to the development of sport to outweigh the loss of the playing field.

Sports Fields/Playing Fields

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether playing fields under 1 hectare are subject to compulsory consultation guidelines before being considered for disposal.

Richard Caborn: Any development on playing fields measuring 0.4 hectares or over is subject to compulsory consultation with Sport England.

Ticket Sales

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government is taking to combat the illegal selling of concert tickets on internet auction sites.

David Lammy: I am aware of the problems which can arise from secondary ticketing and of the problems caused by ticket touting generally. I recognise also of course the potential distress to fans and consumers and the wider economic damage it causes. We are therefore working with other Government Departments and stakeholders to determine the best action to take.
	As an early step we recently hosted a ticket-touting summit with representatives from the entertainment, cultural and sporting industries to consider a way forward. Subsequently my officials are currently working with other Government Departments, the Office of Fair Trading and the relevant industries to analyse the root causes of the problem and the likely options for action, and they will be reporting their findings back to me in due course.
	Among other things a DCMS-led working group will examine the adequacy of existing consumer legislation and how it could be better enforced, in addition to identifying any gaps and loopholes that might need further action.
	Our aim in taking this forward must be to find solutions that protects fans and ensures that our creative, cultural and sporting industries are able to realise legitimate revenue streams. Any proposed solutions must also be both achievable and enforceable. In particular, we shall be looking at the scope for achieving greater clarity and transparency about the sale/resale of ticket sales over the Internet and other channels. And we will also seek to promote greater industry collaboration especially in the area of best practice.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Provisional IRA

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is his policy that the Provisional IRA must disband before Sinn Fein can join a restored Northern Ireland Executive.

David Hanson: The Government are committed to an end to paramilitary and criminal activity, from whatever source that comes. The restoration of the Assembly remains a priority for Government on that basis.

Serious Organised Crime

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the involvement of paramilitary groups in serious organised crime; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The eighth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, published on 1 February 2006, provided a clear assessment of the activities of all paramilitary groups up to the end of November. The latest report, published on 8 March, stated that PIRA no longer pose a paramilitary threat.
	The Government, through the Organised Crime Task Force, is relentlessly pursuing organised criminals in Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they are linked to paramilitary groups or not. Good progress is being made—last year 28 top level organised crime gangs in NI were disrupted or dismantled as a result of law enforcement activity.

Post-primary Education

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of post-primary education in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Government are introducing a number of reforms including a revised curriculum, an Entitlement Framework to widen access to academic and vocational courses for all pupils, and new admissions arrangements which will replace academic selection at age 11 by a system based on informed parental choice.

Post-primary Education

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what educational research the proposed framework entitlement for post-primary pupils in Northern Ireland is based.

Angela Smith: The Post-Primary Review Working Group (Costello Group) considered the range of courses available in post-primary schools and found that the educational provision and choice available to pupils varied greatly, across Northern Ireland. To enable all post-primary pupils to reach their full potential and to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for life and work in the 21st century, the group considered it important to establish a framework of educational entitlement for every pupil.
	The group recommended that the minimum entitlement at key stage 4 and post-16 should be set at a level that is capable of being provided in a locality, ensuring that all pupils have choice from a wide range of courses including a blend of academic and vocational courses.
	The Strategic Advisory Group established to provide advice to the Department on the implementation of the Costello recommendations, examined the current range of educational provision at key stage 4 and post-16 and endorsed the minimum requirements set for the Entitlement Framework.

Ballyrobert Primary School

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of Education will announce a new school build for Ballyrobert primary school.

Angela Smith: An economic appraisal for this school was submitted to the Department of Education by the North-Eastern Education and Library Board in December 2005 and is currently under consideration. I cannot say at this time when the scheme may be in a position to proceed.

Bathing Water Quality

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the quality of bathing water at each of Northern Ireland's designated beaches.

Angela Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service, an agency within the Department of Environment, is responsible for monitoring bathing waters in Northern Ireland to ensure compliance with the mandatory standards of the EC Bathing Waters Directive.
	In 2005, 15 of the 16 identified bathing waters in Northern Ireland met the mandatory standards of the EC Bathing Water compared to 14 in 2004. Newcastle was the only identified bathing water not to meet the mandatory standard in 2005.
	An additional 11 sites are monitored and in 2005, 100 per cent. compliance was achieved compared to 73 per cent. in 2004.
	The Bathing Water Directive also contains a more stringent guideline standard. 11 of the 16 identified sites met the tighter standards in 2005 compared to nine sites in 2004. In both 2004 and 2005, seven of the additional sites complied with the guideline standard.
	The two main factors contributing to non compliance are considered to be inadequate sewerage infrastructure and sewage treatment and increased agricultural runoff during periods of heavy rainfall.

CCTV (South Antrim)

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  when new CCTV projects will be provided in the Antrim borough council area;
	(2)  when funding will be made available for new CCTV projects in the Newtownabbey borough council area to assist in tackling crime.

David Hanson: At the present time, the Northern Ireland Office is holding a competition, the purpose of which is to extend the coverage of CCTV systems in town centres across Northern Ireland. The closing date for applications is 14 April and I understand that bids may be made by town centres in both council areas. However as this is a competition, there can be no guarantee towns in either council area will succeed.

Curriculum and Assessment

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  whether it is compulsory for secondary schools in Northern Ireland to teach pupils at Key Stage 3 from the NICCEA curriculum;
	(2)  whether secondary schools in Northern Ireland may teach pupils at Key Stage 3 based on the National Curriculum developed in England.

Angela Smith: All grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland must follow the statutory Northern Ireland Curriculum at each Key Stage. The statutory curriculum is not, however, meant to take up all of the teaching time available and it is a matter for schools to decide what additional material they wish to cover. This can include material based on the National Curriculum in England.

Drug-related Crime

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many successful prosecutions there have been for drug trafficking in each (a) county and (b) constituency in Northern Ireland in each of the last 30 years.

David Hanson: Data covering the calendar years 1993–2003 have been provided. Data beyond 2003 are currently not available and data prior to 1993 are not compatible with new software.
	Due to a lack of reliable post coded prosecution and conviction data, statistics by county and constituency are not readily available, therefore, alternative geographical breakdowns have been used.
	In place of county, the seven court divisions (based on where a case was heard) have been provided, figures for which are included in Table 1.
	For constituency, the figures provided are based on the 12 police divisions for the years 1993–1999 and police district command units for 2000–2003 (Tables 2 and 3). Due to a change in the prosecutions data source in 2000, Tables 2 and 3 differ in terms of the method of collation used—in Table 2 figures relate to the police division to which an offence was reported, while figures within Table 3 relate to the police district command unit in which an offender's address falls.
	
		Table 1: Convictions for drug-trafficking by court division 1993–2003(2)
		
			  1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Antrim 41 39 52 66 58 38 34 52 35 19 30 
			 Ards 13 8 16 16 14 16 4 14 14 7 19 
			 Armagh and South Down 17 8 12 19 8 4 10 5 8 9 9 
			 Belfast 31 34 70 102 80 59 54 82 54 23 20 
			 Craigavon 2 10 14 9 13 14 10 17 12 17 11 
			 Fermanagh and Tyrone 0 5 9 25 18 17 13 13 7 15 14 
			 Londonderry 6 12 19 27 16 23 17 15 22 22 16 
			 Total 110 116 192 264 207 171 142 198 152 112 119 
		
	
	(2) Figures based on the court division in which an offence was tried.
	
		Table 2: Convictions for drug-trafficking by police division 1993–99(3)
		
			  1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 
		
		
			 A (Musgrave Street) 23 11 29 41 26 14 14 
			 B (Grosvenor Road) 3 6 14 11 20 16 18 
			 D (Antrim Road) 26 25 42 67 48 44 29 
			 E (Strandtown) 10 10 22 15 12 9 5 
			 G (Newtownards) 5 2 4 5 8 10 2 
			 H (Armagh) 2 3 12 18 8 3 2 
			 J (Portadown) 15 10 6 5 9 7 16 
			 K (Dungannon) 0 3 3 8 7 5 3 
			 L (Enniskillen) 0 2 3 16 11 11 9 
			 N (Strand Road) 6 9 15 15 11 21 10 
			 O (Coleraine) 4 13 30 35 23 15 19 
			 P (Ballymena) 16 22 12 28 24 16 15 
			 Total 110 116 192 264 207 171 142 
		
	
	(3) Figures based on the police division to which the offence was reported.
	Note:
	Divisional Headquarters are included within brackets.
	
		Table 3: Convictions for drug-trafficking by district command unit 2000–03
		
			 District command unit 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Antrim 8 6 3 4 
			 Ards 7 2 4 5 
			 Armagh 1 2 4 5 
			 Banbridge 1 1 1 1 
			 Belfast East 9 11 3 2 
			 Belfast North 32 10 16 13 
			 Belfast South 8 12 5 2 
			 Belfast West 17 6 2 4 
			 Ballymena 22 12 6 11 
			 Ballymoney 1 1 2 0 
			 Carrickfergus 5 2 0 0 
			 Coleraine 8 5 4 7 
			 Cookstown 1 5 5 2 
			 Craigavon 9 4 5 9 
			 Castlereagh 2 2 3 0 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 6 1 2 10 
			 Down 3 5 0 3 
			 Fermanagh 4 2 0 2 
			 Foyle 6 13 8 7 
			 Larne 2 4 3 3 
			 Limavady 5 4 8 5 
			 Lisburn 7 8 7 4 
			 Magherafelt 1 3 1 4 
			 Moyle 0 2 0 1 
			 Newtownabbey 8 6 5 2 
			 North Down 8 10 2 5 
			 Newry and Mourne 6 4 1 1 
			 Omagh 2 3 2 2 
			 Strabane 1 0 5 0 
			 Missing 8 6 5 5 
			 Total 198 152 112 119 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are based on the police district command unit in which an offender's address falls.
	2. Police district command units became operational in April 2001. However, calendar year 2000 data are also disaggregated by DCU, rather than police division.
	3. Missing data relate to those for which district command unit information is not available.

Early Invoice Discounts

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what mechanisms are in place to ensure that early invoice payment discounts are secured by each Department in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Permanent Secretary, in his/her role as Accounting Officer of a Department, is responsible for securing value for money for all departmental expenditure. Guidance requires that payments take account of the 'Better Payment Practice Code' and also covers advance payments which may be sought in return for a price discount. Purchasing guidelines requires Departments to consider discounts as one element of the total cost of the purchase of goods or services. This is facilitated by arrangements which make use of specialist purchasing expertise. Experience suggests, however, that early invoice payment discounts are rarely offered, as standard contract terms tend to be used requiring that invoices are paid within 30 days.

Education Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent per (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupil in real terms at today's prices in each local education authority in Northern Ireland in each of the last 30 years.

Angela Smith: The information is not available in the format or over the time period requested. However, education spending for 2006–07 has increased by 6.8 per cent. over 2005–06 to a record of £1,846 million, at a time when pupil numbers are falling. Since 1997 investment in education has increased by over 60 per cent., evidence of this Government's commitment to this key Northern Ireland service.

Energy Supply

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to make a range of energy options available to all rural areas in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The £59 million environment and renewable energy fund announced in February by the Secretary of State will increase the range of energy options available to all geographical locations in Northern Ireland. In particular the fund will support the installation of solar, photovoltaic, biomass, wind and geothermal technologies in at least 4,600 households as well as in industry and the government estate. Rural areas will be supported to develop energy crops for the provision of heat and energy from waste projects will make use of agricultural and industrial wastes to provide heat and power in rural locations.
	In addition fuel diversity has been further enhanced by the North-West gas pipeline, which will bring gas to rural towns and the completion of the South-North pipeline by the end of 2006 which will increase the availability of gas to rural consumers. In total 28,000 consumers could have gas as a fuel option within the next 10 years.

Foreign Nationals

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many foreign nationals are employed in each local authority area in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: It is not possible to provide robust estimates of the number of foreign nationals employed in each local authority area. However, for information, the Autumn 2005 Labour Force Survey estimated that there were 10,000 people in employment in Northern Ireland that reported their nationality as non UK or non Irish.

Foyle River System

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) salmon and (b) sea trout returned to each river of the Foyle system in each month of each year since 2000.

Angela Smith: The information will be placed in the Library of the House.

Gender Pay Gap

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the difference is in average pay between men and women in Northern Ireland; and what measures are being taken to reduce the difference.

Angela Smith: The median hourly earnings excluding overtime for females employed on a full-time basis at April 2005 in Northern Ireland was estimated to be £9.29 compared to £9.70 for males. Female hourly earnings at April 2005 were almost 96 per cent. of males, an improvement in the position at April 2004 when they were 94 per cent. of male hourly earnings.
	The Women and Work Commission Report Shaping a Fairer Future", published on 27 February 2006, proposed a wealth of practical ideas on how to close the gender pay gap and opportunities gap. The 40 recommendations are founded on a thorough analysis of all available evidence across the UK including Northern Ireland. The Government are determined to take action to address all causes of the pay gap highlighted in the report. There will be a UK wide implementation project team which will work with Government departments including those in Northern Ireland on how to take the recommendations forward.

Gender Pay Gap

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the pay gap between men and women in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The median hourly earnings, excluding overtime, for females employed on a full-time basis at April 2005 in Northern Ireland was estimated to be £9.29 compared to £9.70 for males. Female hourly earnings at April 2005 were almost 96 per cent. of males, an improvement in the position at April 2004 when they were 94 per cent. of male hourly earnings.

Homelessness Strategy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the final strategy following the November 2004 release of the consultation document Promoting Social Inclusion: Addressing the Causes and Effects of Homelessness; and when he expects the strategy to be published.

David Hanson: The Promoting Social Inclusion Working Group on homelessness published its draft policy and strategy document on 4 November 2004 for comments by 4 February 2005, although the consultation period was extended in order to facilitate a number of organisations. A total of 48 responses were received, many of which raised new issues and potential actions that needed to be discussed with a range of relevant organisations. Draft action plans have now been prepared and the Department is in the process of consulting with organisations in the wider public and voluntary sectors to agree actions which can be taken forward. I hope this process can be completed in the near future, which will allow publication of the final report.

Illegal Dumping

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were prosecuted for illegal dumping in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of the Department of the Environment acquired the responsibility for the prosecution of such offences in December 2002. EHS does not hold figures on prosecutions prior to 2003. Since then, its investigations of illegal dumping have led to the following successful prosecutions: four in 2003, 24 in 2004, 57 in 2005 and 18 to date in 2006. A further 126 cases have been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service.

Independent International Monitoring Commission

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the ninth report of the Independent International Monitoring Commission (HC 969) was not made available to hon. Members until 14:30 on 8 March.

Shaun Woodward: The ninth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission was laid before Parliament at 11.00 am on 8 March and was made available in the Libraries of the House. However, the Northern Ireland Office regrets that the embargo was not lifted with the Vote Office until later that afternoon.

Invest NI

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  if he will list the (a) meetings, (b) discussions and (c) correspondence between representatives of Invest NI and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding potential inward investment into Northern Ireland in each year since 2000;
	(2)  what plans Invest NI has to lead a trade delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
	(3)  what assistance Invest NI is giving to local companies in helping to develop trade links with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
	(4)  what plans he has to meet the ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss potential economic links to Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: There have been no meetings, discussions or correspondence between representatives of Invest NI and Saudi Arabia regarding potential inward investment into Northern Ireland in any year from 2000. Invest NI has, however, a long term commitment to helping its clients develop business in the Gulf States. Invest NI only recently organised a trade mission to the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates from 23 February to 6 March 2006 on which 10 local companies were represented. Four of the companies on the mission visited Saudi Arabia from 24 to 27 February.
	Invest NI assisted the companies with travel and accommodation costs as well as advisory support with market research and arranging business meetings. The companies also received assistance from the various British embassies while in the markets.
	Invest NI regularly takes trade missions to the Gulf States but no dates have yet been determined for any further visit to Saudi Arabia. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has no plans to meet the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in the near future.

Invest NI

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many inward investment visits Invest NI expects to be made to East Londonderry constituency during 2006.

Angela Smith: Invest NI cannot predict, with any certainty, the number of future inward investment visits to the East Londonderry constituency.
	Invest NI does not determine locations for visits for a potential investor; this decision is taken by the investor. However, Invest NI works closely with the company when preparing a draft visit programme to ensure that the locations to be visited meet their requirements and also provide the best opportunity for Invest NI to sell the Northern Ireland proposition in, what is, a very competitive global marketplace.

Invest NI

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many trade missions have been undertaken by Invest NI accompanied by South Antrim business personnel.

Angela Smith: During the period 1 April 2002 to 28 February 2006, Invest NI undertook 88 trade missions which included 159 representatives of businesses located in the South Antrim constituency area.

Landfill

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to ensure that landfill tax changes are revenue neutral to businesses in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: In the course of the 2004 Spending Review, Northern Ireland received Barnett consequentials for 2006–07 and 2007–08 of £4 million and £7 million respectively, arising from allocations to DEFRA and local government financed by increases in the standard rate of landfill tax.
	As is the case with any and all such consequentials arising from allocations to Whitehall spending programmes, the amounts are not hypothecated to similar services here, but are subject to allocation in the context of local needs and priorities.
	The recently published research report by the Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland (ERINI), entitled Measurement and Benchmarking of Competitiveness—The Cost of Doing Business in Northern Ireland concludes that, on balance, business costs in NI are relatively competitive when compared to GB and the ROI.

Landfill

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hazardous waste landfill sites are available for use in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: There are currently no hazardous waste landfill sites in Northern Ireland. However there is a non-hazardous waste landfill site located in Lisbane, Tandragee (Co. Armagh) which has a separate, dedicated cell for the acceptance of asbestos waste only.

Manufacturing

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many manufacturing jobs have been (a) created and (b) lost in the last 12 months in each of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies.

Angela Smith: Information on the number of jobs created and lost is not available.
	However, figures from the Census of Employment can be used to estimate the net change in employee jobs between censuses and the most up to date figures relate to September 2003. The number of jobs in manufacturing at September 2001 and September 2003 and the change over this two year period for each parliamentary constituency area is shown in table 1.
	The number of redundancies confirmed to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the manufacturing sector in each constituency over the last 12 months is shown in table 2.
	
		Table 1: Number of employee jobs in the Manufacturing sector in each parliamentary constituency area in Northern Ireland in September 2001 and September 2003 and the change over the two-year period
		
			  September 
			  2001 2003 Change 
		
		
			 Belfast East 9,537 7,600 -1,937 
			 Belfast North 4,377 3,712 -665 
			 Belfast South 2,819 2,557 -262 
			 Belfast West 2,801 2,466 -335 
			 East Antrim 4,883 3,646 -1,237 
			 East Londonderry 5,276 4,905 -371 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 7,103 7,083 -20 
			 Foyle 6,640 5,765 -875 
			 Lagan Valley 7,322 6,664 -658 
			 Mid-Ulster 6,418 6,876 +458 
			 Newry and Armagh 3,958 4,041 +83 
			 North Antrim 7,201 7,205 +4 
			 North Down 2,399 1,995 -404 
			 South Antrim 6,505 6,218 -287 
			 South Down 3,268 3,408 +140 
			 Strangford 4,624 4,200 -424 
			 Upper Bann 10,494 9,490 -1,004 
			 West Tyrone 4,561 4,053 -508 
			 Northern Ireland 100,186 91,884 -8,302 
		
	
	Source:
	Census of Employment, DETI
	
		Table 2: Number of confirmed redundancies in the manufacturing sector in each parliamentary constituency area in Northern Ireland over the period 11 March 2005 to 10 March 2006
		
			 Parliamentary constituency Number of confirmed redundancies 
		
		
			 Belfast East 127 
			 Belfast North 0 
			 Belfast South 89 
			 Belfast West 131 
			 East Antrim 43 
			 East Londonderry 7 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 39 
			 Foyle 63 
			 Lagan Valley 157 
			 Mid-Ulster 38 
			 Newry and Armagh 0 
			 North Antrim 275 
			 North Down 0 
			 South Antrim 43 
			 South Down 55 
			 Strangford 37 
			 Upper Bann 135 
			 West Tyrone 251

Message in a Bottle Scheme

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the Message in a Bottle Scheme.

David Hanson: The first Message in a Bottle Scheme in Northern Ireland was launched in Antrim on 2 December 2005. The promoters of the scheme are currently considering how its impact could be monitored and evaluated. However, similar schemes operational in GB have demonstrated positive benefits particularly to the most vulnerable within communities.

MOT Testing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time was at MOT centres in each of the testing centres in Northern Ireland during January.

Angela Smith: The following table shows the average waiting time for MOT inspection at each test centre in Northern Ireland in January 2006.
	
		
			  Test centre Average waiting time in January 2006 (days) 
		
		
			 Armagh 37 
			 Ballymena 37 
			 Belfast 26 
			 Coleraine 22 
			 Cookstown 31 
			 Craigavon 33 
			 Downpatrick 26 
			 Enniskillen 29 
			 Larne 21 
			 Lisburn 36 
			 Londonderry 26 
			 Mallusk 30 
			 Newry 26 
			 Newtownards 29 
			 Omagh 23

MOT Testing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to bring MOT testing in Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK.

Angela Smith: The Government have no plans at present to bring MOT testing in NI into line with the rest of the UK.

MOT Testing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will allow vehicle testing centres to carry out minor repairs on site.

Angela Smith: The Government have no plans to allow the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency to carry out minor repairs on site.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are serving on three or more non-departmental public bodies.

Angela Smith: Sixteen people in Northern Ireland are currently serving on three or more non-departmental public bodies.

New Earnings Survey

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the latest Northern Ireland New Earning Survey was carried out; and when the next one is scheduled.

Angela Smith: The New Earnings Survey (NES) was replaced by the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) in October 2004.
	The latest ASHE was carried out in April 2005, and results for Northern Ireland were published on the DETI website on 10 November 2005. The next ASHE will be carried out in April 2006 and results are scheduled for publication in October 2006.

New Earnings Survey

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what cross-referencing was carried out to the most recent Northern Ireland New Earnings Survey to ensure its accuracy.

Angela Smith: The New Earnings Survey was replaced by the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) in October 2004 in line with recommendations made in the National Statistics Quality Review of Distribution of Earnings Statistics (DOER). Improvements include extending the coverage of the sample to include employees in businesses outside of the PAYE system and calibrating the survey responses to totals from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) by occupation, gender, region and age.

Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has for the role of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education in the future governance of education in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: As part of the Review of Public Administration, responsibility for front-line support and related functions currently performed by NICIE will transfer to the new Education and Skills body.
	NICIE will be represented on the new Education Advisory Forum which will be established to provide advice to the Department.
	We will be working closely with NICIE to ensure the interests of the integrated sector are fully addressed under the new arrangements.

Planning Appeals Commission

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of planning application refusals have been overturned by the Planning Appeals Commission in each local authority area in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

Angela Smith: The following table shows the percentage of refusals overturned by the Planning Appeals Commission as a percentage of the total number of refusal decisions issued by the Planning Service, in each council area, between 2001 and 2005.
	
		Refusals overturned on appeal between 2001 and 2005
		
			 District Percentage 
		
		
			 Antrim 10.58 
			 Ards 8.04 
			 Armagh 0.83 
			 Ballymena 6.56 
			 Ballymoney 2.89 
			 Banbridge 1.70 
			 Belfast 10.04 
			 Carrickfergus 6.17 
			 Castlereagh 8.87 
			 Coleraine 10.24 
			 Cookstown 1.52 
			 Craigavon 2.65 
			 Derry 9.49 
			 Down 13.02 
			 Dungannon 1.63 
			 Fermanagh 5.41 
			 Larne 5.98 
			 Limavady 5.24 
			 Lisburn 6.09 
			 Magherafelt 5.36 
			 Moyle 4.58 
			 Newry and Mourne 1.39 
			 Newtownabbey 6.62 
			 North Down 10.53 
			 Omagh 1.79 
			 Strabane 2.98

Public Administration Review

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the organisations and individuals who supported the Seven Councils option during the recent Review of Public Administration consultation process.

Angela Smith: The Review of Public Administration consultation process attracted 1206 responses. Of the 113 responses which indicated a preference for one of the options in the RPA further consultation document the seven council model was supported by 62 per cent. of respondents. Details of the organisations and individuals are listed as follows.
	Organisations and individuals who supported the seven council model
	Nexus
	National Society For The Protection of Cruelty to Children
	Royal Society For The Protection of Birds
	Woodland Trust
	Citizens Advice Bureau
	Rural Community Network (NI)
	Women's Resource And Development Agency
	Women's Support Network
	Help The Aged
	Youthnet
	NI Youth Forum
	NCH Northern Ireland
	Northern Ireland Council For Voluntary Action
	Joint Government/Voluntary And Community Sector
	Northern Ireland Environmental Link
	The Community Foundation Ffr Northern Ireland
	NIPPA—The Early Years Organisation
	Simon Community
	Volunteer Development Agency
	Royal National Institute for the Deaf
	Youth Action NI
	Public Health Alliance
	Irish National Teachers' Organisation
	Upper Bann Institute
	Comhairle Na Gaelscolaiochta
	North Down and Ards Institute of Further And Higher Education
	NI Affairs Committee—Faculty of Public Health
	Institute of Public Health
	The Estates Managers Group
	Royal Hospital
	Eastern Health And Social Services Board
	Armagh Observatory
	Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
	Arts Council of Northern Ireland
	Northern Ireland Museums Council
	Invest NI
	General Consumer Council
	NI Tourist Board
	North West Public Sector Review Group
	Tidy Northern Ireland
	Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland
	Friends of The Earth
	Ulster Wildlife Trust
	Ulster Architectural Heritage Society
	Ulster Society For The Protection Of The Countryside
	Omagh 2010 Taskforce
	Police Service for Northern Ireland
	Skills Active
	Belfast Healthy Cities
	NI Labour Forum
	N. I. Women's Coalition
	Sinn Fein
	Turley Associates
	PricewaterhouseCoopers
	BT Northern Ireland
	Ulster Farmers Union
	Institute Of Directors
	Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants
	Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry
	Construction Employers Federation
	Institution of Civil Engineers
	Londonderry Chamber of Commerce
	Confederation Of British Industry
	Private Individual
	Private Individual
	Private Individual
	Private Individual
	Private Individual
	Private Individual
	Private Individual

Public Service Commission

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) criteria were adopted and (b) procedures used in the appointment of the membership of the new Public Service Commission in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The criteria used for the appointment of members of the Public Service Commission were: in an ex-officio capacity based on the their position on other relevant organisations; on the recommendation of relevant organisations; or based on their wide ranging experience of the public sector in Northern Ireland and their understanding of the Review of Public Administration.
	The selection of relevant organisations reflected the importance of the Commission in working alongside existing bodies with personnel responsibilities in sectors affected by the review.

Public Service Commission

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the extent to which the proposed Public Service Commission is representative of the community in Northern Ireland in terms of gender and ethnicity; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The prime considerations in appointing members to the Commission were a combination of: ex-officio appointments based on their position on other relevant organisations; the recommendation of relevant organisations; or based on their wide ranging experience of the public sector in Northern Ireland and their understanding of the Review of Public Administration. As a result, no assessment of the extent to which the Public Service Commission is representative of the community of Northern Ireland in terms of gender or ethnicity has been made.

Rates (Non-payment)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been convicted of non-payment of (a) domestic and (b) commercial rates in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The non-payment of rates is a civil matter and as such no ratepayer has been convicted for non-payment of rates. The following table shows the total number of court processes issued by the Rate Collection Agency together with decrees obtained from the Magistrates Court and bankruptcy orders obtained from the High Court for each of the last five years. The split between domestic and commercial ratepayers is not available.
	
		
			 Recovery stage 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Court processes issued 39,387 42,284 43,070 42,059 42,761 
			 Decree 15,630 14,810 16,545 17,866 16,538 
			 Bankruptcy 60 76 114 143 129

Roe Valley Country Park

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated cost is of the refurbishment works at the Roe Valley country park; and when they are expected to be complete.

Angela Smith: The current work on enlarging and refurbishing the cafe at the Dogleap Centre in the Roe Valley country park is expected to cost around £350,000 and to be completed by summer 2006, when the cafe will re-open. If additional resources can be secured, work on upgrading the rest of the building and providing new exhibitions in the country park will follow at an estimated cost of £300,000.

School Maintenance

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been spent on (a) maintenance and (b) repair of school property in each of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: Information on maintenance and repair spending in each constituency is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In addition, neither the Department of Education nor Education and Library Boards' records distinguish spending between maintenance and repairs. Total spending on the maintenance, including repairs, of school property in each Education and Library Board area in the past five years was as follows:
	
		£000
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 BELB 9,860 10,673 11,318 9,573 5,497 
			 WELB 7,643 8,262 8,490 4,885 5,406 
			 NEELB 7,449 9,446 5,836 8,869 5,306 
			 SEELB 8,162 11,318 10,732 7,442 5,237 
			 SELB 11,244 9,283 9,704 9,949 7,937 
			 Total 44,358 48,982 46,080 40,718 29,383

School Vandalism

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were convicted in connection with vandalism to schools in Northern Ireland in 2005.

David Hanson: The data requested are not available. Court statistics relating to offences against property do not include detail relating to the type of property involved.

Smoking

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of deaths in Northern Ireland which were directly related to smoking in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: Smoking history is rarely recorded on death certificates. Estimates however have been made of the number of deaths attributable to smoking, by using information on the contribution that smoking makes to specific conditions recorded at death. The Health Development Agency 1 published the most recent estimates for Northern Ireland in 2004. This report estimated that over the period 1998–2002, an average of 2,300 deaths of people of all ages were caused by smoking each year in Northern Ireland.
	1 Twigg, L., Moon, G., and Walker, S. The smoking epidemic in England, Health Development Agency, 2004 (http://www.publichealth.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502811)

Smoking

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Department of Education is taking to tackle smoking on buses transporting children to and from school.

Angela Smith: Smoking, whether by drivers, escorts, or pupils, is strictly forbidden on all forms of school transport provided by boards. All board tender documents for contract hire buses and taxis stipulate that pupils must travel in a smoke free environment.
	If a smoking offence is reported on a board-funded service, then it is treated as serious misconduct. In the case of pupils smoking, the parents are advised of the misconduct in writing. Action is then taken according to the discipline policy of the school that the pupil attends, and according to board procedures. Any recurrence of serious misconduct may result in the withdrawal of the provision of assisted transport.
	Parents and pupils are advised of this policy in the Safe School Travel booklet, which is produced jointly by boards and Translink. This booklet clearly indicates that suitable behaviour by pupils is central to the safety of everyone and specifically advises that a no smoking policy is in operation. In addition to the serious misconduct procedures, smoking on public transport services can be subject to a fine of up to £1,000, imposed by Translink.

Untaxed Spirits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total value of untaxed spirits intercepted in Northern Ireland was in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Revenue and Customs do not record the value of all spirits intercepted. HMRC does estimate the value of each non-UK duty paid spirits seizure, however. The total estimated value of spirits seizures made in Northern Ireland by financial year is shown in the following table. There are no records for years prior to 2000–01.
	
		
			 Financial year Value of spirits seized (£) 
		
		
			 2000–01 229,043 
			 2001–02 312,149 
			 2002–03 85,695 
			 2003–04 5,823 
			 2004–05 74,363

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Canals

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to upgrade the British canal network to enable the transport of more freight on a regular basis; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Most navigable canals in Britain are owned or managed by British Waterways. The Government's policy is to encourage British Waterways to facilitate waterway transport by encouraging the transfer of freight from roads to water where this is practical, economic and environmentally desirable.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish her Department's response to the consultation by the Natural Environment Research Council on the proposed closure of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Laboratories; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has already published its response to the Natural Environment Research Council consultation on the future for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology on the Defra website.
	It can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/news/default.htm

Energy Efficiency

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to undertake a new review of local authority work on energy efficiency; and if she will make a statement

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 13 February 2006
	We currently have no plans to undertake a new review of local authority work on energy efficiency. We are looking at the scope for further contributions to emissions saving as part of the Climate Change Review. This includes a look at the public sector, including local authorities. The review will be published shortly.

Flood Prevention

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the tidal gauge opposite Orford Quay will be repaired.

Elliot Morley: I understand from the Environment Agency that the tide gauge at Orford Quay is scheduled for repair during the summer of 2006.

Flood Prevention

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will instruct the Environment Agency to ensure that accurate local tidal data is available to inform reviews of flood management strategies for the Suffolk coastal estuaries.

Elliot Morley: I understand tide level information is used by the Environment Agency for a variety of purposes including flood warning and monitoring of long term trends and that every effort is made to ensure the data collected are accurate. Any faults with the Agency's tide sites are reported and rectified promptly. The Agency carries out quality assurance on the data that are provided. The Agency has gathered additional tide level information specifically for the estuary management strategies and these have been appropriately validated.

Global Warming

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned into the possible relationship between global warming and drastic weather events, with particular reference to (a) flash floods and (b) hurricanes.

Elliot Morley: Over 5 percent. of the research funded by DEFRA at the Met Office's Hadley Centre for climate prediction and research is specifically aimed at gaining a better understanding of the relationships between extreme events and climate change.
	For example, recent research by the Hadley Centre has shown that the European hot summer of 2003 was up to four times more likely to have happened because of the increased levels of greenhouse gases. Such summers are expected to be common by the 2050s.
	It is not generally possible to link the intensity of individual extreme rainfalls to global climate change. Hadley Centre studies suggest that the frequency of extreme rainfall events, leading to flash flooding, may increase overall in response to global warming; although there will be local and regional variations. UK climate change scenarios issued in 2002 show an increase in the frequency of severe rainfall events across the whole country in the 2080s, compared to today.
	The effect of climate change on hurricanes and other tropical storms is still a matter of considerable research, at the Hadley Centre, elsewhere in the UK, and in the U.S.A. There is some evidence that hurricane intensity may increase with global warming but no clear evidence yet on how hurricane frequency might change.

Landfill

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the (a) financial viability, (b) overall environmental impact and (c) past performance of each technological solution which her Department has assessed as an acceptable waste disposal alternative to landfill.

Ben Bradshaw: All waste treatment technologies are different and their financial viability, environmental impact and track record need to be assessed at local level to decide the most suitable solution. The Government provide support for local authorities through the Waste Technologies Data Centre and the New Technologies Supporter Programme, which provide information on financial, environmental and performance aspects of different technologies for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill.

Recycling

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage local authorities to recycle plastic.

Ben Bradshaw: While the Government have set statutory recycling and composting targets for all waste collection authorities in England they do not specify which materials should be collected. However, the Government have, through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), set up the Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team (ROTATE). ROTATE's role is to disseminate information and spread best practice on recyclate collection methodologies throughout the local authority community. One of its messages concerns evidence from research that recyclate collections that include plastics achieve greater householder participation and yield greater quantities of all materials than collections that do not.

Recycling

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the performance against recycling targets of each local authority has been in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Waste Strategy 2000 announced that the Government would set local authorities statutory performance standards for recycling and composting household waste in 2003–04 and 2005–06. There were no performance standards for recycling and composting prior to this. Performance against 2003–04 targets can be found on the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/localauth/perf_mgmt.htm

Reservoirs

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans she has to build new reservoirs in England and Wales over the next 10 years; and in which areas reservoirs are to be developed;
	(2)  what representations she has received about the development of the national reservoir infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Elliot Morley: My Department has no plans to build reservoirs. It is for water companies to consider the need for building new reservoirs in fulfilment of their duties to maintain adequate supplies of water. Five proposals to construct new reservoirs were set out in the water companies 25 year water resources plans prepared in 2004.
	
		
			 Proposed location Company 
		
		
			 Broad Oak Southern Water /Mid Kent Water/ 
			  Folkestone and Dover Water Services 
			 Clay Hill South East Water 
			 Havant Thicket Portsmouth Water 
			 South West Oxfordshire Thames Water 
			 Lower Severn Severn Trent 
		
	
	Proposals for new reservoirs are subject to proper option appraisal and must demonstrate their cost-effectiveness against other resource options.
	In each case the necessary approvals, such as planning permission, will need to be obtained.
	No specific representation has been received on the development of a national reservoir infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Warm Front Scheme

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to allow recipients of the Warm Front Scheme to pool resources from the Scheme to fund community-based fuel initiatives.

Elliot Morley: There is potential for the Warm Front Scheme to support such initiatives. To enable this the Scheme would need to satisfy itself on various issues including but not limited to:
	All those set to directly benefit from the initiative being eligible for heating measures under Warm Front
	If any household that is set to directly benefit from the initiative is not Warm Front eligible, that it pays an equal amount to each household receiving assistance from the Scheme.
	The initiative is considered to be cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sound

Waste Incineration

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made towards meeting the Government's targets for the incineration of waste; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Government have set no specific targets for waste incineration. Energy is currently recovered from about 9 per cent. of municipal waste. Economic modelling undertaken to inform the Government's current waste strategy review suggests that this may increase to about 25 per cent. nationally by 2020. This is less than was forecast in Waste Strategy 2000 due to our better than expected performance on recycling.

Water Supplies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to ensure that planned large scale housing development will be co-ordinated with water supply infrastructure.

Elliot Morley: The Government are confident that the current water resources planning framework is sufficiently robust to forecast the future demands for water and to manage the supply-demand balance. DEFRA works closely with the water companies and the ODPM to ensure that water needs for new house building are taken into account at an early stage of the planning process and included in a timely manner in the water companies 25 year water resource plans.
	The water companies are already statutory consultees on regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks, and should work with plan making bodies in drawing up these plans, so that the necessary coordination can occur. Conversely, the planning authorities will become statutory consultees on the water company water resources management plans, when these plans are put on a statutory basis (expected to be in October 2006). This means that the water companies can be provided with information on proposed large scale developments in their supply areas.
	However, new infrastructure is only part of the equation, and the Government are actively pursuing opportunities to reduce unnecessary consumption of water. For example DEFRA has set up the Water Saving Group to investigate further opportunities for more efficient use of water. DEFRA and ODPM will be consulting jointly later this year on mechanisms to improve the efficiency of water use in new-build housing and the Government have recently announced that there will be minimum standards for water efficiency as part of the code for sustainable homes.

Water Supplies

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the availability of water supplies in the North West of England in 2006.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency has produced a report, Drought prospects 2006", explaining the likely consequences of a continuing rainfall deficit and recommending action by water companies and the public. Although most reservoir levels in the north west of England were at lower levels than normal at the end of January it was not considered that this should present any problems over the summer. Nevertheless, water companies are advised to monitor the situation carefully and if necessary to take appropriate action in accordance with their drought plans.

Water Supplies

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the new (a) reservoirs, (b) treatment plants and (c) sewerage systems that might be needed to accommodate proposals for the new house building up to 2016 in West Lancashire.

Elliot Morley: Water companies are already factoring new house building into their water resources plans, using projections from ODPM and local authorities. Ofwat has already assumed in its current price limits that almost one million new properties will be connected to the water and sewerage service by 2010.
	To fulfil their duty to maintain adequate supplies of water, several water companies propose to enlarge existing reservoirs (three in total) or construct new ones (five in total). These proposals are set out in the 25 year water resources plans they prepared in 2004. The Environment Agency has advised Ministers about the appropriateness of these proposals and other measures to ensure security of supply in its report Maintaining water supply", which was published in July 2004. West Lancashire's water supply is provided by United Utilities. The company's water resources plan, prepared in 2004, does not identify the need for new reservoirs.
	Planning for new sewerage systems should be carried out in close and transparent co-operation between planners and water and sewerage companies. The provision of water and sewerage services are key factors in ensuring the sustainability of new housing developments. New sewers are usually laid by developers or requisitioned from the water and sewerage companies.

TRANSPORT

Bioethanol

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that E85 bioethanol is available as an alternative vehicle fuel in all areas.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government announced in November 2005 that a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) will be introduced from 1 April 2008. The RTFO will require all suppliers of transport fuels in the UK to ensure that 5 per cent. of their total fuel sales come from renewable sources by 2010 in order to help meet our climate change objectives. It will be up to individual fuel suppliers to decide whether they want to sell higher blends of bioethanol through dedicated E85 pumps to help meet their Obligation, or blend it into fuels suitable for all vehicles in line with EU fuel quality standards which currently impose a maximum biofuel limit of 5 per cent. by volume. I am aware that filling stations in the South West and East of England are already providing dedicated E85 pumps on their forecourts and that other retailers are considering doing so.
	The Department for Transport currently provides limited grant funding towards the installation of alternative refuelling infrastructure. Details of this funding can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website at www.est.org.uk.

Driving (Sleep Problems)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2005, Official Report, column 811W, on driving (sleep problems), if he will make a statement on the reasons for the rise in DVLA inquiries about obstructive sleep apnoea.

Stephen Ladyman: The increasing number of inquiries to DVLA about obstructive sleep apnoea reflects media interest in the subject and the Agency's efforts to raise awareness among health professionals. DVLA is starting to see the benefits of regular review of drivers with the condition.

IT Systems

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date the Highway's Agency projection of costs associated with moving from Oracle to SAP was made.

Stephen Ladyman: The cost of moving the Highways Agency financial systems to the SAP system is being examined as part of the Department's shared services programme, taking into account the experience of moving the Agency from its legacy cash accounting systems to the Oracle system during 2002–03 and 2003–04. As Highways Agency finance will not be migrating to SAP for another three years, the full costs will not be known until detailed technical work, planned for a later stage of the shared services programme, is complete.
	A very broad estimate of the full costs of migrating Highways Agency finance of £10 million to £15 million was given in oral evidence to the Transport Select Committee by the Agency's Finance Director on 15 February 2006. The migration costs reflected in the interim business case for the shared services programme assumed that it could be done for less, taking into account the work that would already have been carried out in establishing the core SAP platform. The interim business case included a further allowance for optimism bias of £5 million.

IT Systems

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications of the cost of moving from Oracle to SAP for the viability of the Shared Services Programme business case; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: An interim business case for the Department's shared services programme was produced in February 2006, which included initial estimates of the costs of migrating the different business units from their existing accounting and other IT systems to a SAP platform. Some of the business units were already using a version of SAP. This showed that, based on the total estimated economic investment cost of £49.5 million (including 'optimism bias' of £5 million), the programme would pay back in 6 years with a net present value after 10 years of around £46 million.

London and Continental Railways

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list (a) the advisers and (b) their parent companies who worked on the restructuring of London and Continental Railways in 1998.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The Department appointed three sets of advisers in 1996 to provide specialist support in relation to the development and operation of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. They are the project representative, Mott Parsons Gibb, the financial agent, Schroders (now Citigroup), and the legal agent, CMS Cameron McKenna.
	These advisers also supported the Department in the 1998 restructuring of London and Continental Railways (LCR).

Road Improvements (Denton)

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the Highways Agency on improving capacity and traffic flows at the M60, M67 and A57 interchange at Denton.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency have been asked to investigate options for an improvement scheme at Denton Interchange. I am expecting to receive their advice shortly. Officials in the Government Office for the North West have been kept fully informed of progress.

Road Improvements (Denton)

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to improve the junction capacity at the M60, M67, A57 interchange at Denton.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency is currently investigating options for an improvement scheme for this junction and their advice is expected to be submitted to Ministers shortly. Any recommendations will be considered along with the advice from the North West Region recently sent to the Government on their transport priorities.

South Hampshire Rapid Transit Scheme

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the documents which formed the basis of the recent decision not to proceed with the South Hampshire Rapid Transit scheme.

Derek Twigg: We are currently considering a request under the Freedom of Information Act for release of the reports I considered in reaching my decision. Any documents released under this request will be placed on our website shortly.
	Subject to agreement from the promoters, I will place in the Library the information they provided which formed the basis of my decision on this scheme.

Transport Offences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) notifiable and (b) non-notifiable offences were reported to the British Transport Police in 2004–05, broken down by (i) parliamentary constituency, (ii) region and (iii) police authority area.

Derek Twigg: The British Transport Police (BTP) have provided the following information on the number of (a) notifiable and (b) non-notifiable offences reported to the BTP in 2004–05 broken down by police authority area in England and Wales; this data is not collected by parliamentary constituency or by region and therefore can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Police force area Notifiable offences Non notifiable offences Total 
		
		
			 Avon Somerset 1,042 718 1,760 
			 Bedfordshire 568 160 728 
			 Cambridgeshire 833 316 1,149 
			 Cheshire 1,010 1,006 2,016 
			 City of London 1,742 524 2,266 
			 Cleveland 245 459 704 
			 Cumbria 287 356 643 
			 Derbyshire 434 490 924 
			 Devon Cornwall 806 864 1,670 
			 Dorset 312 124 436 
			 Durham 254 405 659 
			 Dyfed Powys 179 220 399 
			 Essex 2,354 835 3,189 
			 Gloucester 196 159 355 
			 Greater Manchester 2,571 2,983 5,554 
			 Gwent 207 264 471 
			 Hampshire 1,592 464 2,056 
			 Hertfordshire 1,868 538 2,406 
			 Humberside 442 1,058 1,500 
			 Kent 2,619 639 3,258 
			 Lancashire 822 1,099 1,921 
			 Leicestershire 417 412 829 
			 Lincolnshire 177 298 475 
			 Merseyside 2,061 2,233 4,294 
			 Metropolitan local stns 35,689 17,630 53,319 
			 Norfolk 396 168 564 
			 North Wales 338 427 765 
			 North Yorkshire 587 824 1,411 
			 Northamptonshire 192 128 320 
			 Northumbria 843 872 1,715 
			 Nottinghamshire 534 752 1,286 
			 South Wales 1,210 1,203 2,413 
			 South Yorkshire 808 1,218 2,026 
			 Staffordshire 323 343 666 
			 Suffolk 219 160 379 
			 Surrey 2,043 434 2,477 
			 Sussex 2,399 735 3,134 
			 Thames Valley 2,682 1,001 3,683 
			 Warwickshire 267 274 541 
			 West Mercia 506 454 960 
			 West Midlands 2,956 2,044 5,000 
			 West Yorkshire 2,587 2,149 4,736 
			 Wiltshire 291 154 445

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Civil Service (Workforce Reductions)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting civil service work force reductions targets in (a) the Office of Fair Trading and (b) UK Trade and Investment.

Ian Pearson: For the financial years 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08 the OFT expects to make efficiency savings of £6.5 million. These savings will arise from reductions in staffing and related costs, as well as more efficient procurement of goods and services.
	UK Trade and Investment expects to deliver £35 million efficiency savings over the period 2005–06 to 2007–08. Of this, £24 million relates to efficiency savings on the funding streams it receives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). These funding streams (and hence the expected efficiency savings from these funding streams) relate to staff and associated costs for FCO and DTI staff working for UK Trade and Investment.

Dialling Codes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on Ofcom's plans to create regional dialling codes; and on what administrative government boundaries the codes will be based.

Alun Michael: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which published its Review of the UK Telephone Numbering Plan on 23 February. As Ofcom has made clear, proposals are designed to preserve the existing system and to improve price transparency for consumers. Ofcom is not planning to create new regional dialling codes. Indeed, the primary aim of Ofcom's proposals for these numbers is to reduce the risk of such changes, now and in the future. The fundamentals of the current plan will remain almost unchanged. Ofcom's plans involve changing the current numbering plan as little as possible while meeting increasing demand for numbers, which are of course a finite resource. The consultation can be found at the following internet address:
	http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/numberingreview/numbering.pdf.

Disabled Workers

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the pay gap between able bodied and disabled workers in (a) West Lancashire and (b) the UK in each year from 1997 to 2005; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce it.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Low Pay Commission reported that, in 2004, the pay gap for people with a work-limiting disability was 13 percentage points. This Department is not aware of any further data on the pay gap between disabled and non-disabled workers in West Lancashire or in the years 1997 to 2005.
	The Equal Opportunities Commission's Code of Practice on Equal Pay recommends that it is good practice for employers, when comparing the pay between men and women to also look at disability and seek advice from the Disability Rights Commission to ensure that the relevant provisions of the disability legislation are taken into account.
	As a result of a strong economy and active labour market policies, the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people is starting to close. The employment rate for disabled people was 38.1 per cent. in spring 1998, rising to 46.6 per cent. by spring 2005; over the same period, the employment gap fell from 35.1 per cent. to 28 per cent.
	The DTI supports the recommendations in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People" and the aims of the Office for Disability Issues and contributes to implementing recommendations within its area of responsibility.

Regional Development Agencies

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which regional development agencies have funded (a) rail services and (b) road building, construction or road improvement works in the last five years for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: holding answer 13 March 2006
	Consistent with their statutory purposes as set out in the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) Act of 1998, the following regional development agencies (RDAs) have invested in (a) rail services and (b) road building, construction or road improvement works in the last five years for which figures are available:
	(a) Rail services
	East of England Development Agency (EEDA);
	London Development Agency (LDA);
	Northwest Development Agency (NWDA);
	South East England Development Agency (SEEDA);
	Yorkshire Forward (YF); and
	(b) Road building, construction or road improvement works
	Advantage West Midlands (AWM);
	East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA);
	London Development Agency (LDA);
	Northwest Development Agency (NWDA);
	One North East (ONE);
	South East England Development Agency (SEEDA);
	South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA); and
	Yorkshire Forward (YF).

Businesses (North-West)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses were created in the North-West region in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005; and how many are expected to be created in 2006.

Alun Michael: The number of small businesses (less than 50 employees) created in the North-West region in 2003 was 29,519 while the number for 2004 was 20,133. Figures for small business creation in 2005 are not yet available. There are no forecast projections for the number of small business expected to be created across the region in 2006.

Businesses (North-West)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being put in place following the 2005 Northwest Regional Economic Strategy review to improve access to public and private sector business support providers.

Alun Michael: The revised Northwest Regional Economic Strategy, to be launched in March, sets out the future approach to develop the economy of the region and is the key document in which the RDA's business plan and other documents will be based. The first port of call for business support is the Business Link network within the Local Business Link or through the national website (businesslink.com). Last April oversight of Business Link passed to the RDAs and a review is currently being undertaken by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) of its Business Support and Business Link activities to ensure that these services address the main issues identified in the new Rural Economic Strategy (to be launched in March). The NWDA is also investigating how private sector business support activities can be better incorporated and leveraged by the public sector to improve the overall access, level and quality of service to businesses. Core issues under review include improving client awareness and understanding of services, simplifying services and improving efficiency.
	Business Link is a national brand" delivered locally, with the RDA responsible for quality delivery. The Business Link service will be a key driver to improving access and the review specifically focuses on how the business model for this service can be extended to increase penetration and access, in part through utilising existing business support structures. The NWDA is also investigating ways in which access and support to 'harder to reach' clients and those with different needs can be improved, such as mainstreaming where appropriate.

Timber

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the value of timber imported into the UK in (a) 1980 and (b) 2003.

Ian Pearson: Imports into the United Kingdom of wood and cork had a value of £683 million in 1980 and of £1,461 million in 2003.

UK Trade and Investment

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his policy is on devolving the UK Trade and Investment budget to regional development agencies and regional assemblies.

Ian Pearson: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) provides trade development advice and services to businesses through teams of advisers located in the English regions. It works closely, through its regional International Trade Directors, with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) on international trade strategy and delivery, through a Dual Key" Framework. In support of inward investment, UKTI currently provides £15.2 million to the RDAs' single pot" for inward investment promotion activities.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the military capability and sophistication of (a) the Taliban and (b) al-Qaeda forces operating in South Afghanistan;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the number and strength of (a) Taliban, (b) al-Qaeda and (c) illegal armed groups operating in South Afghanistan.

John Reid: The capabilities of Taliban, al-Qaeda and illegally armed groups in Southern Afghanistan are limited and we believe do not currently pose a threat to the long-term stability of Afghanistan, although they pose a localised threat to international forces, representatives of the Afghan government and those who support it.
	The actual numbers of Taliban in Southern Afghanistan fluctuates, but could amount to over a thousand. al-Qaeda's presence in the area is small. There is also a range of illegally armed groups in the south with various tribal and criminal allegiances, contributing to general lawlessness. It is not possible to determine the number of armed individuals belonging to such groups across the South.

British Beef

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will encourage British military bases in Europe to serve British beef.

Adam Ingram: The procurement of beef for use by the UK armed forces complies with European Union legislation and it would be unlawful for the Department to stipulate that beef should be sourced from a particular country. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defence's food supply contractor is specifically required to purchase British produce whenever it is competitive to do so and the MOD is working with the Department for Environment Food Rural Affairs and Industry to maximise the competitiveness of British produce.

Continuous Attitudes Survey

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place copies of the latest Continuous Attitudes Surveys for each of the Services in the Library.

Don Touhig: The most recent versions of the Royal Navy and RAF Continuous Attitude Surveys (CAS) were published in the Library of the House and on the MOD's Freedom of Information (FOI) website in October 2005. The Army's latest CAS was completed in February 2006 and copies will be placed in the Library of the House and the MOD's FOI website from 1 April 2006.

Darfur

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts regarding the provision of further assistance by NATO to the African Union mission in Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: The focus of discussion in NATO has been on support to the African Union's Mission in Darfur (AMIS) until the expected handover from AMIS to a UN force in Darfur later this year. NATO is already supporting AMIS in areas such as strategic lift and developing their planning and training capabilities.

Departmental Files

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many files in his Department are believed to have been contaminated by asbestos dust during storage; what plans he has to decontaminate them; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: Approximately 63,000 files were affected by the asbestos contamination of the basement of the Old War Office Building.
	Following pilot work in early 2005, a project to regenerate the affected files into electronic format by scanning commenced in December 2005. It is estimated that the project will take until July 2007 to complete. Scanning will be followed by quality assurance checks, and then the destruction of the original files to the appropriate security and health and safety standards.

Falkland Islands

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department last assessed the military state of readiness of UK forces on the Falkland Islands.

Adam Ingram: All units deployed in the Falkland Islands are held at varying degrees of readiness appropriate to their role. Like Force Levels, readiness is kept under review.

Future Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he will take to ensure that the agreement reached with France on a common aircraft carrier design does not delay the coming into service of the United Kingdom's future aircraft carriers; and whether target in-service dates have been set.

John Reid: As I announced on 24 January, we will be co-operating with France during the CVF demonstration phase to produce a common baseline design that both countries can further use to develop their own carriers. The French Defence Minister and I subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding to formalise the associated arrangements. The MOU specifically recognises that both countries' co-operative aims shall be achieved without detriment to the timescales of their respective programmes.
	As for all projects, the in-service dates for the future aircraft carriers will only be set following the main investment decision and once they have been approved by Ministers. This decision has not yet been taken.

Harrier Deployment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Harrier jets have been in Afghanistan during their deployment by the RAF; and on how many occasions in each six-month period they have engaged insurgents.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 March 2006
	Since September 2004, there have been six harriers based in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In this time 970 missions have been flown of which 21 have resulted in the release of weapons. One of these missions was in the first six months of the deployment; ten during the second six months; and ten since 1 November 2005.

Harrier Deployment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the role has been of the RAF Harrier Jet deployment in Afghanistan; and by whom it will be carried out after their withdrawal;
	(2)  on what (a) military and (b) economic factors the decision to withdraw RAF Harriers from Afghanistan was based; and whether representations against the withdrawal have been received by the Department.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 March 2006
	The role of the RAF Harrier GR7 deployment in Afghanistan since September 2004 has been to provide a close air support and reconnaissance capability to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Ensuring continued close air support to the ISAF is a matter for the NATO force generation process, and the Netherlands have committed six F16s which are due to be fully operational in Kandahar by summer 2006.
	The decision to extend the UK Harrier GR7s in theatre from June 2005 until June 2006 was based on the need to cover the period of runway work at Kandahar, the military requirement, and on the relative cost-effectiveness of meeting the requirement in this way. We continue to review the requirement in consultation with NATO and the coalition.

Helicopters

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 6th February 2006, Official Report, column 825W, on helicopters, what was the average number of hours flown on operations for a Royal Air Force (a) Chinook, (b) Merlin, (c) Sea King and (d) Puma helicopter in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003.

Adam Ingram: Information in respect of hours flown on operations in 2001 and 2002 is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. An average yearly total for financial year 2003–04 has been calculated 1 and is shown in the following table:
	1 The calculation used is: total annual operational hours by aircraft type divided by the average number of aircraft type deployed on operations.
	
		
			 Aircraft type Financial year 2003–04 
		
		
			 RAF Chinook 192 
			 RAF Merlin 418 
			 RAF Puma 304 
		
	
	As I stated in my answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 825W, the Sea Kings operated by the RAF are dedicated to the UK Search and Rescue capability and have, therefore, not been included in the figures provided.

International Security Assistance Force

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding levels each (a) NATO and (b) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition member has devoted to ISAF in the 2005–06 financial year.

Adam Ingram: The costs of operational deployments are a matter for the nations concerned.

Iran

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made towards the recovery of Royal Marine patrol boats seized by Iran.

Adam Ingram: Discussions are ongoing. Through diplomatic channels we have raised the return of the boats with the Iranian authorities on numerous occasions, at both ministerial and senior official level, in Tehran and London.

Iraq

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the capture of a suspected insurgent by RAF Regiment soldiers near Basra airbase; and what the (a) age and (b) nationality was of the person seized.

Adam Ingram: The individual apprehended by British Forces near the Basra airbase on 28 February 2006 was 25 years old and of Iraqi nationality.

Iraq

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 1189W, on Iraq and the Ministry of Defence press release of 28 September 2005, entitled 2005 UK Defence Statistics, if he will update the figures provided in the answer to include the cost of combat operations in 2003–04 and 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Further to my earlier answer on 6 March 2006, Official Report, columns 1189–90W, it remains the position that it is not possible to identify separately the cost of combat operations. The total cost of military operations in Iraq, including the war-fighting phase between 20 March and 1 May 2003, are as advised in that answer and as published in the UK Defence Statistics 2005", table 1.17. The MOD press release of 28 September 2005 focuses on financial year 2004–05, during which no war-fighting was conducted—although the publication does also disclose the costs in 2002–03 and 2003–04, which include the war-fighting phase of Operation Telic.

Non-service Employment

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel applied to take up appointments with private military companies in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005, broken down by rank; and how many of the applications were refused in each case.

Don Touhig: The rules on acceptance of appointments by Crown Servants (the 'Business Appointment Rules') contained in the Civil Service Management Code and Queen's Regulations require all officers in the armed forces, in certain circumstances, to apply for permission before taking up appointments with outside organisations for two years after leaving Crown Service.
	The number of Service personnel who have submitted applications under the Business Appointment Rules are as follows:
	
		Navy
		
			  2004 2005 
		
		
			 Admiral 1 1 
			 Vice Admiral 0 0 
			 Rear Admiral 2 4 
			 Commodore 2 3 
			 Captain 2 3 
			 Commander 9 7 
			 Lieutenant Commander 4 8 
			 Lieutenant 0 0 
			 Sub Lieutenant 0 0 
		
	
	
		Army
		
			  2004 2005 
		
		
			 General 1 0 
			 Lieutenant General 1 1 
			 Major General 1 2 
			 Brigadier 3 1 
			 Colonel 5 6 
			 Lieutenant Colonel 5 7 
			 Major 6 3 
			 Captain 2 0 
			 Lieutenant 0 0 
		
	
	
		RAF
		
			  2004 2005 
		
		
			 Air Chief Marshal 0 3 
			 Air Marshal 0 1 
			 Air Vice Marshal 3 1 
			 Air Commodore 2 4 
			 Group Captain 6 10 
			 Wing Commander 7 9 
			 Squadron Leader 6 13 
			 Flight Lieutenant 2 3 
		
	
	Please note that some personnel may have submitted more than one application. It is not known how many appointments were taken up. No applications were refused outright. However, on occasions approval will have been given subject to the application of a behavioural condition or a waiting period.

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's work with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe over the last 12 months.

John Reid: In addition to the exchange of military information and data required under the auspices of the OSCE's 1999 Vienna Document of the Negotiations on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, in the past 12 months the United Kingdom has conducted 14 missions to inspect and evaluate military units from other OSCE countries, and has itself been subject to three inward inspection and evaluation visits. In October 2005, the UK hosted a visit by OSCE members to a military facility (the Land Warfare Centre in Warminster), as required by the Vienna Document. The UK also deployed on six missions to assist OSCE inspections in the countries of Former Yugoslavia under the auspices of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
	The destruction of small arms and light weapons remains a high priority for the MOD and, in response to a request from the OSCE, the UK conducted four Staff Assessment Visits to Belarus with a view to improving stockpile security and management, and oversaw the destruction of Man-Portable Air Defence Systems.

Private Aircraft

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances (a) UK and (b) foreign aircraft which are privately owned may land at UK military airfields.

Adam Ingram: It is the Ministry of Defence policy to encourage the civil use of defence facilities wherever possible, provided it is consistent with departmental requirements. Thus civil aircraft may land at most UK military airfields where they have prior permission, which is normally granted at local level. All such users are required routinely to give at least 24 hours notice. We also have arrangements to approve civil users for regular use of particular airfields.

QinetiQ

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the independent assessment of the sale of equity in QinetiQ in 2002.

John Reid: Throughout the competitive process to choose a Strategic Partner, leading up to the sale of a minority equity shareholding in QinetiQ to Carlyle, the Ministry of Defence's decisions were informed by assessments undertaken by its advisers UBS Warburg and Simmons & Simmons. These assessments were provided under contractually-committed confidentiality agreements and therefore cannot be released.

RAF Spadeadam

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for RAF Spadeadam; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: RAF Spadeadam will continue to provide ground-to-air Electronic Warfare training for RAF aircrew. The RAF is considering the most cost-effective means of undertaking this when current systems begin to go out of service in 2009.

Uganda/Colombia

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military (a) equipment has been exported and (b) training has been provided by his Department to (i) Uganda and (ii) Colombia in each year since 2000.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the Government's Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls which contain information, by destination, on export licensing decisions and on the value of exports of military equipment from the UK. The reports are available from the Libraries of the House and quarterly information is published by the Department of Trade and Industry at http://www.dti.gov.uk/export.control/whatsnew.htm.
	Military training courses, Defence education and other military assistance provided to Ugandan personnel by the Ministry of Defence since 2000 is shown in the following table :
	
		
			  Type of training 
		
		
			 2000–02 There are no records immediately available of training support for 2000–02. Assistance was comparable with subsequent years 
			  
			 2003 International Officers Peace Support Operations course (two participants) 
			  Manging defence in a Democracy courses (two participants) 
			  UN Military Observers courses (seven participants) 
			  Advanced Command and Staff Course (one participant) 
			  MSc Global Security course (one participant) 
			  Commissioning course (one participant) 
			  
			 2004 Managing Defence in a Democracy courses (four participants) 
			  RMAS Commissioning course (one participant) 
			  International Intelligence Directors course (one participant) 
			  UN Logistics course (one participant) 
			  MSc in Defence Administration (one participant) 
			  Defence Logistics Management course (one participant) 
			  International Senior Officers Peace Support Operations course (one participant) 
			  
			 2005–06 UN Military Observers course (two participants) 
			  Managing Defence in a Democracy courses (two participants) 
			  Humanitarian De-mining course (150 participants) 
			  RMAS Commissioning course (one participant) 
			  International Peace Support Briefing Programme (two participants) 
			  Advanced Command and Staff Course (one participant) 
			  International Senior Officers PSO course (one participant) 
		
	
	Military training courses, Defence education and other military assistance provided to Colombian personnel by MOD since 2000 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Type of training 
		
		
			 2000 Advice on explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and the protection of police stations 
			  
			 2001 EOD training (10+ participants) 
			  
			 2002 MSc in Global Security (one participant) 
			  Royal College of Defence Studies (one participant) 
			  
			 2003 EOD seminar (10+ participants) 
			  International Intelligence Directors course (one participant) 
			  Advanced Command and Staff Course (one participant) 
			  International Bomb Disposal course (two participants) 
			  Bag-piping course (10+ participants) 
			  
			 2004 International Bomb Disposal course (seven participants) 
			  Joint Command and Staff College (one participant) 
			  International Intelligence Directors course (one participant) 
			  International Peace Support briefing programme (two participants) 
			  Bag-piping course (10+ participants) 
			 2005–06 Improvised Explosive Device Disposal course (10+ participants) 
			  International Bomb Disposal course (two participants) 
			  Humanitarian De-mining course (10+ participants) 
			  MSc in Global Security (one participant) 
			  Bag-piping Courses (10+ participants) 
			  Rules Of Engagement Seminar (10+ participants) 
			  Economic Exclusion Zone course (two participants) 
			  Hydrographic Office course (two participants, separately) 
		
	
	As well as the training listed in the table, the MOD has also provided some bespoke training to members of the Colombian armed forces engaged in Counter-Narcotics.

Voluntary Retirement

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army (a) officers and (b) other ranks (i) were granted and (ii) applied for premature voluntary retirement or release in each quarter since January 2004.

Don Touhig: The table below shows the number of Voluntary Outflow Applications and the number of Voluntary Outflow Exits for Trained Officers and Soldiers for each quarter during the period 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2005.
	
		Number of Voluntary Outflow (VO) Applications and Exits of Trained Regular Army Officers and Soldiers from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2005
		
			  Officers Soldiers 
			 Date VO Applications VO Exits VO Applications VO Exits 
		
		
			 1 January 2004 to 31 March 2004 190 110 1,980 1,480 
			 1 April 2004 to 30 June 2004 200 140 1,630 1,050 
			 1 July 2004 to 30 September 2004 150 200 1,880 1,010 
			 1 October 2004 to 31 December 2004 130 80 1,970 1,260 
			 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2005 240 120 1,900 1,570 
			 1 April 2005 to 30 June 2005 80 170 1,860 1,020 
			 1 July 2005 to 30 September 2005 230 180 1,690 1,180 
			 1 October 2005 to 31 December 2005 190 130 1,670 1,100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The term Premature Voluntary Release has been changed to Voluntary Outflow (VO),although the methodology for calculating the totals remains the same.
	2. VO is defined as all applications and exits from trained personnel which are generated by the individual before their time expiry.
	3. The figures are based on all Voluntary Outflow from the Trained strength of the UK Regular Army.
	4. All applications are counted according to the date received in MOD.
	5. The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, number ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Anti-Bullying Strategies

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made to improve the anti-bullying strategies at (a) HM Young Offender Institution Stoke Heath and (b) HM Young Offender Institution Brinsford following defects identified by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Stoke Heath young offender institution's anti-bullying strategy has been fully reviewed and now forms part of a violence reduction strategy and an action plan is reviewed monthly. Two units deliver intense intervention to the more serious bullies. Their progress is constantly reviewed. The courses are accredited and audited annually.
	Daily monitoring is recorded in an antisocial behaviour booklet by all staff who have contact with trainees and reviewed every evening by the wing manager and weekly by a board. There is also a self-help group for victims of bullying. Visits to local schools are planned so as to learn from their strategies and methods. A system of rewards and sanctions is being considered to encourage integration to normal location for persistent bullies.
	Brinsford young offender institution's anti-bullying strategy was revised and re-launched following the most recent chief inspector's report. A safeguarding manager has been appointed with responsibility for child protection, violence reduction, anti-bullying and public protection. An anti-bullying co-ordinator post will become full-time and deliver programmes to both perpetrators and victims of bullying. Brinsford is currently working on appointing a safeguarding team. It is planned to introduce an intensive support unit where the perpetrators of bullying will be identified, located and receive appropriate training.

Antisocial Behaviour

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what penalties have been imposed, broken down by type, in each incident that has come to court of an antisocial behaviour order being breached in each London borough; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in each of the last five years; how many breaches have come to court; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) breach data held centrally only cover breach proceedings where there has been a conviction. These data are currently available from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003 for ASBOs issued since 1 June 2000. The available information on the number of orders breached in England and Wales, by period, is given in table A.
	ASBO breach data are available at criminal justice system area level only. The penalties imposed as a result of convictions in Greater London courts are given in table B.
	
		Table A: Number of antisocial behaviour orders breached, as reported to the Home Office, by period, from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003(4)England and Wales
		
			 Period Total breached 
		
		
			 June 2000 to December 2000 14 
			 2001 118 
			 2002 240 
			 2003 609 
			 June 2000 to December 2003 793 
		
	
	(4) Breaches are counted in this table on a persons basis, i.e. where the order has been breached on more than one occasion within the same period, a person is counted once only within that period
	
		Table B: Sentences and penalties following ASBO breach proceedings, as notified to the Home Office, within Greater London, from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003
		
			  Sentence Average length or amount  Total 
		
		
			 Conditional discharge Length of order— 7.5 months 2 
			 Fine £73 23 
			
			 Community sentence   
			 Community punishment order 47 hours 3 
			 Curfew order 3 months 2 
			 Attendance centre order 13 hours 3 
			 Action plan order n/a 1 
			 Supervision order 15 months 2 
			 Community rehabilitation order 2 years 1 
			
			 Custody1   
			 Imprisonment (aged 18 and over) 2 months 63 
			 Detention and training order (under 18) 6.5 months 9 
			
			 Other   
			 Referral order 6 months 1 
			 Suspended sentence of imprisonment 13.5days(6) 2 
			 Hospital order n/a 1 
			 Committed to Crown court for sentence (7)— 2 
			 Not separately dealt with n/a 1 
			 Total — 116 
		
	
	n/a=not applicable
	(5) Some sentences will be concurrent with others given for another offence.
	(6) Length of prison sentence.
	(7) One person received a community rehabilitation order, length two years, the other imprisonment for 1 month.

Care in Custody

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork programme in each prison where it is applied; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Mental Health in England regarding (a) the implementation of and (b) changes to the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork programme; and if he will make a statement;

Fiona Mactaggart: In 2002–03, Manchester University carried out an evaluation of the care-planning system in place at that time—the F2052SH. Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) was developed to address problems identified in that study as well as reflect wider developments in prisoner care. ACCT was introduced into five pilot prisons in January 2004. An internal, interim evaluation was conducted in the summer of 2004 and further improvements were made as a result. A full, independent, study of ACCT was commissioned from a consortium of researchers from Manchester and London Universities. The findings of this evaluation, alongside feedback from establishment staff, Area Safer Custody Advisers and the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) regional leads, will be used to inform a review of ACCT and the suite of ACCT training courses that is being undertaken during 2006.
	Ongoing analysis of routine monitoring data seeks to monitor the impact ACCT and other initiatives in suicide prevention are having on self-inflicted death and self-harm statistics. However there are a multitude of factors which may explain changes in self-inflicted deaths in particular establishments. Early indications are that the three year rolling average rate of self-inflicted death has fallen by 4 per cent. in the first five pilot prisons to introduce ACCT, and by 12 per cent. in the first 30 prisons to adopt the new system. There have also been encouraging results with regard to self-harm rates at these prisons. This information is provided to the steering board—on which NIMHE is represented—that oversaw the development of ACCT and continues to supervise its implementation and review.

Care in Custody

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the prisons that operate the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork programme;
	(2)  which prisons have converted to Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork processes for assessing at-risk inmates; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The prisons that are already using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork Approach (ACCT) are (as at 13 March):
	Feltham
	Holme House
	Low Newton
	Wandsworth
	Woodhill
	Castington
	Hull
	Leeds
	New Hall
	Buckley Hall
	Lancaster Farms
	Manchester
	Preston
	Styal
	Winchester
	Bullingdon
	Bristol
	Dorchester
	Exeter
	Holloway
	Stoke Heath
	Liverpool
	Birmingham
	Blakenhurst
	Glen Parva
	High Down
	Lewes
	Swinfen Hall
	Downview
	Swaleside
	Nottingham
	Bedford
	Cardiff
	Maidstone
	Eastwood Park
	Long Lartin
	Albany
	Pentonville
	The Wolds
	Wormwood Scrubs
	Parkhurst
	Doncaster
	Brinsford
	Shrewsbury
	Swansea
	Norwich
	Leicester
	The Mount
	Stafford
	Wakefield
	Guys Marsh
	Risley
	Whitemoor
	Brixton
	Gloucester
	ACCT is being introduced across the estate as part of a phased programme, designed to ensure that the necessary staff training takes place before an establishment goes live with the new system.

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the regulations on making gating orders under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 will come into force; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The new powers will come into force on 1 April 2006. Upon commencement the Regulations will be accompanied by guidance which will enable them to be used immediately by practitioners.
	This new provision gives local authorities a much wider power for suspending highways so that a council can effectively deal with crime and antisocial behaviour in these instances.

Computer Games

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many computer games have been banned from import in each year since 1997; and what the reason was in each case;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to stop the import of child pornography in computer games and animation.

James Purnell: I have been asked to reply.
	None. Every computer game to be made available in the UK which features gross violence and/or material of a sexual nature must be submitted to the British Board of Film Classification. All videos and cinema films, including animation, are submitted. The BBFC bases its decisions on a set of guidelines which take into account the law, including the Protection of Children Act 1978. The BBFC would not countenance giving a classification to any game or animation which contained child pornography.
	Supplying a video or such a game without classification is a breach of the Video Recordings Act 1984, and punishable by up to two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine. Supplying a video or a BBFC classified game to someone who does not meet the age requirement is also an offence and punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000.
	Importing any pornographic material involving children is, of course, illegal, and subject to action by either the Police and/or HM Revenue and Customs.

Criminal Justice Act

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect on custody plus orders in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on sentences (a) given by the courts and (b) served by prisoners.

Fiona Mactaggart: Sentences of custody plus will comprise a short custodial term (2–13 weeks) followed by a minimum of six months on licence. The custodial period will be served in full (less remand time allowed and home detention curfew). Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the courts. For planning purposes, the impact of custody plus has been assessed under the broad assumption that the majority of those currently getting a custodial sentence of less than 12 months and half of those currently getting a custodial sentence of exactly 12 months will get this sentence. (For those currently getting very short custodial sentences (less than a month) it has been assumed that about half will get a community order or a suspended sentence order.) The distribution of the custodial element of the custody plus sentence has been assumed to follow a similar distribution to that of the sentences it replaces but within the two-13 week band.
	These estimates have been made for internal planning purposes and do not constrain the discretion of sentencers in any way.

Driving Offences (Mobile Phones)

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for offences involving using hand-held mobile telephones when driving a motor vehicle in the (a) South Wales, (b) Gwent, (c) North Wales and (d) Dyfed Powys police force areas.

Paul Goggins: The new offence of driving while using a hand held mobile telephone was introduced from 1 December 2003. Available information for 2003 (latest available) shows no fixed penalty notices were issued for the offence by South Wales, Gwent, North Wales and Dyfed Powys police force areas.
	2004 data will be available end of March 2006.
	Use of a hands free mobile phone is not part of the new offence.

Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2006, Official Report, column 813W, on the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, whether faith organisations can apply to the three funds to which the answer refers.

Paul Goggins: Any Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisation, including faith based ones, who can satisfy the appropriate criteria, are eligible to apply for funding from the Home Office Change-Up, Future Builders and Russell Commission programmes. Applications for funding to support proselytising activity are however ineligible.

Gun Crime

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer to Question 54474 of 7 March 2006, on gun crime, how many gun crimes were recorded in each London borough in each year since the launch of Operation Trident; and what the percentage change was in each year;
	(2)  pursuant to Question 54474, how many gun related incidents there were in each London borough in each year since 1999.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office does not collect this information centrally. The figures provided as examples, quoted in the reply to Question 54474 on 2 March 2006, Official Report, column 957W, were Metropolitan police figures. Further details are available on the website of the Metropolitan police at www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/.

HMP Norwich

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he has taken to improve the performance of HMP Norwich since the last report by HM inspector of prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: An action plan has been produced in response to each of the recommendations made by the chief inspector in her report published in August 2005. Significant improvements have been made. Examples are a substantial re-ordering of the accommodation in the prison, a safer environment for vulnerable prisoners, the opening of a first-night centre, and refurbishment of health care accommodation. There has also been significant work on training for the prevention of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm.

Illegal Immigrants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants are in prison.

Fiona Mactaggart: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Peak District National Park

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that the police give greater priority to tackling crimes against wildlife in the Peak District national park.

Hazel Blears: The deployment of police officers in each force area is an operational matter for the chief officer concerned, based on operational priorities. All police forces have a policy for dealing with wildlife crime. The enforcement capability of officers on the ground is supported by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime; a multi-agency body comprising representatives of all the organisations involved in wildlife law enforcement in the UK.

Peterborough City Council

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of additional police (a) officers, (b) support staff and (c) stations that will be required as a result of the planned expansion of housing in the Peterborough city council area.

Hazel Blears: The Government are strongly committed to the principle that infrastructure should be sufficient to support growth in housing. The police funding formula takes account of the relative needs of policing across England and Wales. It is for the chief constable of Cambridgeshire, in consultation with the police authority, to determine how many officers and staff are deployed in an area and whether there is a need for additional police facilities in that area.

Police

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the starting salary was for newly qualified police officers in Oxford for each of the last 10 years.

Hazel Blears: The salary of a constable on completion of initial training for each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
	
		Pay rates for a constable on completion of initial training1996 to 2005
		
			 From 1 September each year:  
		
		
			 2005 22,270 
			 2004 22,107 
			 2003 21,462 
			 2002 20,436 
			 2001 19,842 
			 2000 19,170 
			 1999 18,612 
			 1998 17,964 
			 1997 17,274 
			 1996 16,689 
		
	
	In addition a South-East England allowance of 2,000 per year is payable to all officers appointed on or after 1 September 1994.

Police

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables have been recruited in (a) West Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) England and Wales since the beginning of the scheme.

Hazel Blears: Home Office specific grants to forces under the Special Constabulary Capacity Building Scheme began in January 2004. In the year 1 April 200431 March 2005, 63 special constables were recruited by Lancashire Constabulary, with 3,636 special constables recruited in England and Wales.
	Figures are not collected centrally for West Lancashire.

Police

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average number of hours per week was worked by a special constable in (a) West Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) England and Wales in each year since the beginning of the scheme.

Hazel Blears: Special constables are volunteers and the hours individual specials work varies. Data on hours worked by special constables are collected by police force area; figures are not collected centrally for West Lancashire. Available information on the average number of special constable hours per week are as follows:
	
		Hours per week
		
			  200304 200405 
		
		
			 Lancashire 1,379 1,389 
			 25 forces providing data(8) 19,452 21,266 
		
	
	(8) Forces not providing data are Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Cleveland, Derbyshire, Durham, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police, North Wales, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands).

Police

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been introduced in Suffolk since the scheme began.

Hazel Blears: Information relating to the number of full-time equivalent Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in each Police Force Area has been collected by RDS since 2003. As at 31 March 2003, Suffolk did not have any PCSOs. 15 PCSOs were introduced by 31 March 2004, this increased by 19 giving a total of 34 PCSOs as at 31 March 2005. This figure decreased by one, to 33 as at 30 September 2005.

Police National Computer

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons have access to the Police National Computer (PNC); what action he is taking to increase access for prisons to the PNC; when he expects all prisons to have access to the PNC; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: There are 49 prison establishments with dedicated Police National Computer (PNC) terminals to enable access to an individual's previous convictions. A further three terminals have been approved by the Police Information Technology Organisation at Bullingdon Peterborough and Styal prisons.
	However, no further terminals will be installed until the completion of a investigation by the Information Commissioner, who has concerns about not only the length of time personal data is retained on the PNC, but also how it is shared with non-police organisations such as the Prison Service.

Police Pensions

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many injury award pensions are being paid by each police force in England and Wales.

Hazel Blears: I refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave on 7 March 2006, Official Report, column 1317W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Ayrshire (Mr. Donohoe).

Prison Governors

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many current prison governors have previously been employed in (a) the National Offender Management Service and (b) the offices of regional offender managers; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: A number of Prison Service operational managers currently work in the headquarters of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), but only one serving governing governor of a public sector prison in England and Wales has previously worked there. None have worked in the offices of regional offender managers.

Prison Visits (Children)

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide crche facilities for visitors to prisons.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government recognise the contribution that appropriate facilities can make to a more positive visiting experience for children.
	Responsibility for the provision of facilities for visitors rests with individual prison governors, as they are best placed to assess local needs. Currently over 100 prisons in England and Wales have supervised play facilities.

Prisoners

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of prison inmates registered with a general practitioner prior to being sent to prison; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not collected centrally. Prisoners are asked for their general practitioner registration details at their first reception screening.

Prisoners

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to the police on the transporting of handcuffed individuals in police cars with regard to the use of seatbelts.

Hazel Blears: We do not issue guidance on the use of handcuffs. However, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have issued general guidance to police officers on the use of handcuffs. This can be found on the ACPO website (www.acpo.police.uk).

Prisoners

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to reduce the levels of (a) suicides and attempted suicides, (b) violent attacks and (c) self-harm in female prisons.

Fiona Mactaggart: A broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner safer custody (an umbrella term for suicide prevention, self-harm management and violence reduction) strategy is in place. The strategy can be summarised as, 'Reducing distress and promoting the well-being of all who live and work in prisons.' It operates by embedding safer custody as a current through every area of prison lifeincluding detoxification, health care, staff training, and the built environmentand applies to all prisoners, regardless of gender.
	Meanwhile a specifically targeted suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy has been developed for women prisoners. This builds upon a number of interventions including individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm; investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in women's prisons; and the introduction of a new training pack for all staff working with women in custody. 2.5 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women's prisons to be spent on mental health services and NHS mental health in-reach services are now available in all women's prisons.
	Comprehensive electronic guidance to staff on managing people who self-harm has been issued; this was developed in close partnership with the Department of Health and the National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and aims to be of use to all those working with people who self-harm within a secure environment.
	The national Violence Reduction Strategy was launched in May 2004. The national Strategy requires each establishment to have in place a local Violence Reduction Strategy appropriate to needs. A whole prison approach is encouraged, with the aim of reducing violence and fear of violence. A focus on personal safety, supporting victims, and repairing the physical and emotional harm caused by violence or abuse, links closely with the suicide prevention strategy.

Prisoners

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on prisoners' use of electronic mail facilities while in detention.

Fiona Mactaggart: Prisoners currently do not have access to these facilities, although a pilot project to test the operational and practical realities of giving prisoners access to email facilities at Wormwood Scrubs prison will begin shortly. Email provides additional facilities for prisoners to maintain contact with family and friends. It will also assist them in gaining employment and other resettlement based activities when preparing for release.

Prisoners

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which prison establishments yoga is being taught; at what cost; what assessment he has made of its impact on prisoners; how many participants there are at each relevant establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not collected. The provision of alternative or complementary therapies for prisoners is a matter for the national health service primary care trusts responsible for commissioning primary health services at prison establishments.

Prisoners

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training (a) prison officers and (b) prison nurses undertake to enable them to deal with the mental welfare of prisoners.

Fiona Mactaggart: The mental health workforce in prisons is trained alongside mental health professionals in the national health service. The majority of healthcare staff will have already gained registered status prior to working within a prison. A small number of staff, usually health care officers and assistants, undertake pre-registration nurse training courses on secondment from prison.
	Mental health awareness training for Prison Service staff falls into two categories. The Government have funded the development of a two-day training course to support the assessment care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) programme, which looks at care planning for at-risk prisoners as part of the Prison Service suicide strategy. This is aimed at Prison Service staff who are going to be ACCT assessors. In addition, we have developed a mental health workbook aimed at the wider custodial workforce. This training is self-directed and is been rolled out initially for six months, to be evaluated, developed and then rolled out fully, so that by April 2007, 20 percent., of staff should have completed a minimum of 10 hours training.
	As new roles within mainstream mental health services are developed, these are implemented within prisons where appropriate.

Prisoners

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released from foreign prisons were held by British police on their return for (a) one hour, (b) two hours, (c) three hours, (d) four hours, (e) five hours and (f) six hours or more at each airport in the UK in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of the police in investigating the finding of drugs within the prison estate on (a) inmates, (b) prison governors, (c) prison officers, (d) other prison staff and (e) visitors.

Fiona Mactaggart: Arrangements are in place setting when prisons are to contact the police to investigate serious crime including drug-related offences. Police must be contacted if visitors or staff are found to be in possession of classified drugs. In cases where governors believe that referral to the police is not appropriate, it must be considered and agreed by the Director General.

Prisons

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether future market testing of public prisons will be evaluated on (a) cost and (b) delivery against the existing performance of public sector prisons.

Fiona Mactaggart: No decisions have been made yet as to future market testing of public sector prisons.

Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2006, Official Report, column 1318W, on prisoners, what crimes prisoners have been convicted of who have Sky TV in their cells; and how many have been sentenced to life in prison.

Fiona Mactaggart: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Probation Service

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters of complaint he has received concerning the Probation Service in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Southend in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 30 January 2006
	The table shows the number of complaints received by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales and Essex since 1 September 2001, the date on which the NPS complaints procedure and the Ombudsman's responsibility for investigating complaints about the probation service were implemented. We do not hold records relating specifically to Southend.
	
		Table 1: Number of complaints made by offenders or their representatives about the Probation Service for England and Wales and Essex, received by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman since 1 September 2001
		
			  Total number received Total number receivedEssex Total number eligible Total number eligibleEssex 
		
		
			 September 2001 to March 2002 83 3 5 0 
			 April 2002 to March 2003 191 5 31 1 
			 April 2003 to March 2004 279 9 28 3 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 307 5 41 0 
		
	
	The Number Eligible column shows the number of complaints out of all those received, that have been eligible for the Ombudsman to investigate. The Ombudsman's terms of reference (and the NPS complaint procedure) require that all three stages of the complaint procedure must have been completed before the Ombudsman may investigate a complaint. The three stages are: informal investigation by the local office, formal investigation by the Chief Officer or a senior officer nominated by the CO, and finally the appeal stage when a panel of three Board members hears the appeal. The Ombudsman may accept complaints that are referred to him within one month of the complainant receiving the result of the Appeal.

Probation Service

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the future of the probation service from the United States corrections industry.

Fiona Mactaggart: We received a number of responses from the public and private sector to the consultation document Restructuring Probation to reduce re-offending, including one response from the American Probation and Parole Association. The Government's response will be published in due course.
	In addition to the formal consultation process, there are a number of established forums through which the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) engages with NOMS service providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Through these contacts, some expressions of interest in providing future NOMS services have been received from providers of all sectors. However these indications have been informal and non-specific in nature. In due course a more formal process will be undertaken in accordance with European Union procurement rules.

Security Industry

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in ensuring all employees in the security industry receive new Security Industry Authority identity cards prior to the 20 March 2006 deadline; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: From 20 March, contracted manned guards will be required to be licensed to carry out licensable activities. As at 8 March, 77,895 applications had been submitted by the manned guarding sector to the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and 37,333 had received a licence, with a further 12,244 waiting to go on the system. The SIA are currently issuing around 275 licences per day to manned guards.
	To address the backlog of licence applications caused by late applications, the SIA has doubled its processing capacity, and has worked closely with companies to reduce applicant error rates.

Security Industry

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will suspend the operational date of 20 March for the new licensing regime for security staff to take account of the backlog of applications not yet processed.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 2 March 2006
	The date of implementation of 20 March 2006 was agreed after consultation with the industry and has been publicised for the last two years. I have made clear on a number of occasions that this date will not be moved.

Security Industry

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will revise the Security Industry Authority licensing procedure to make it more user-friendly to applicants; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 2 March 2006
	Operational responsibility for licensing the private security industry lies with the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and it is for them to decide whether and how they might amend the application procedure. The application form is required to capture, as a minimum, details of training, criminality, identity and mental health. The SIA have worked very closely with the industry to identify ways to reduce the rejection rate, and this has resulted in a drop in the rate from 50 per cent. in January 2006 to around 20 per cent. currently.

Security Industry

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when shopping centres were notified by the Security Industry Authority that the new licensing regime applied to them; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 2 March 2006
	The principal responsibility for communicating with buyers of security rests with their supplier, and this has been clear for two years. The Security Industry Authority has in place a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy aimed at suppliers, and supports them by communicating as much as possible with individual companies and the public sector. The aim is to ensure that all individuals and companies who provide security services (including under contract to shopping centres) are aware of their responsibilities and obligations under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

Security Industry

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place to enable previous residents of Somalia to satisfy the Security Industry Authority of their lack of a criminal record when applying for a licence to take account of the lack of Government functions in their country; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Security Industry Authority have systems in place to assist applicants who are required to provide Overseas Criminality Checks (OCC's). This includes alternative arrangements for those individuals from areas where the administration has collapsed to a point where there are no credible official sources of information, where authorities choose not to disclose records or where there is a risk to the personal safety of an applicant if they make contact with their country of residence.

Security Industry

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for door supervisor licences were submitted to the Security Industry Authority in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Please see the following table:
	
		Number of door supervisor applications
		
			  Month Cumulative 
		
		
			 2004 18,334 18,334 
			 January 2005 2,609 20,943 
			 February 2005 3,225 24,168 
			 March 2005 3,553 27,721 
			 April 2005 3,958 31,679 
			 May 2005 2,531 34,210 
			 June 2005 2,327 36,537 
			 July 2005 1,819 38,356 
			 August 2005 1,711 40,067 
			 September 2005 1,924 41,991 
			 October 2005 1,891 43,882 
			 November 2005 2,448 46,330 
			 December 2005 1,386 47,716 
			 January 2006 1,000 48,716 
			 February 2006 2,129 50,845

Self-Harm (Prisons)

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of serial self-harmers in the prison estate; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Relatively few prisoners, the vast majority of whom are female, account for most self-harm incidents across the prison estate. In 2005, 50 prisoners (1 per cent. of individuals responsible for self-harm incidents) accounted for about 25 per cent. of all reported self-harm incidents; 260 prisoners (5 per cent.) accounted for about 50 per cent. The average number of self-harm incidents per individual who has self-harmed is currently about four per year but 23 prisoners had more than 100 recorded incidents.
	A broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy is in place. The strategy can be summarised as, 'Reducing distress and promoting the well being of all who live and work in prisons.' It operates by embedding 'safer custody' as a current through every area of prison lifeincluding detoxification, healthcare, staff training, and the built environment. The key intervention currently being introduced across public and private prisons is the new care-planning system for at-risk prisoners: Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT). ACCT aims to improve the quality of care by introducing flexible care-planning that is prisoner-centred, supported by improved staff training in assessing and understanding at-risk prisoners.
	Comprehensive electronic guidance to staff on managing people who self-harm has been issued; this was developed in close partnership with the Department of Health and the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) and aims to be of use to all those working with people who self-harm within a secure environment.
	The Prison Service has set up a network of establishments to develop interventions, facilitate evaluation and share good practice around managing prisoners who self-harm. An information leaflet about managing self-harm written by a prisoner for prisoners includes information on how to manage self-injury and how to get help within the prison context. Touch screen technology is being developed in prisons to inform prisoners of where to obtain support and how to support other prisoners.

World Cup

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to introduce new legislative measures to combat potential hooliganism from English fans at this year's football World Cup.

Paul Goggins: Refinements to existing football disorder legislation are included in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill. These measures are not essential to our plans for preventing banning order subjects and other risk fans from leaving England and Wales during the World Cup or for minimising the risk of disorder among England fans during the tournament.

Young Offender Institutions

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether new guidelines will be developed for young offender institutions following the guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the treatment of children with mental health problems.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Youth Justice Board works closely with the Department of Health on the provision of health care to young people in custody. They will be considering whether specific additional guidance should be given on this issue.

HEALTH

Agenda for Change Programme

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effects of the Agenda for Change programme on each grade of NHS staff in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority.

Rosie Winterton: The responsibility for the agenda for change programme and its effects on national health service staff lies with the local NHS.
	All NHS organisations within the Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area have worked in a collaborative way throughout the implementation phase of agenda for change and are continuing this way of working post implementation to ensure that the development of the new pay system, consistency of application and interpretation is maintained and that benefits are realised.

Art Acquisitions

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on works of art by NHS organisations in Suffolk in each of the past five years.

Rosie Winterton: Data are not collected centrally on the particular purchase of works of art. However, information is provided annually by National Health Service trusts on the amount invested in arts and art projects including labour, material and resources received from other organisations. This information was first collected in 200203 and information covering these returns for 200203 through to 200405 is shown in the table.
	
		NHS trust investment in art and art projects -- 000
		
			 Trust name 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Suffolk West Primary Care Trust (PCT) 0 0 0 
			 Central Suffolk PCT 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk Coast PCT 0 0 0 
			 Waveney PCT 0 0 0 
			 Ipswich PCT 0 0 0 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 6,712 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 10,000 0 0 
			 Suffolk Mental Health Partnership Trust 0 0 0 
		
	
	The data provided have not been amended centrally and the accuracy of these data are the responsibility of the provider organisation. Data for 200203 and 200304 were provided as part of a mandatory data set. The information for 200405 was provided by trusts on a voluntary basis as part of the initiative to reduce bureaucracy in the NHS.

Body Mass Index

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the most recent estimate of the average body mass index in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority.

Caroline Flint: The most recent data on the mean body mass index (BMI) in England is from the 'Health Survey for England 2004updating of trend tables to include 2004 data' report. This shows the mean BMI to be 27.1 for men and 26.8 for women in 2004 (weighted figures).
	The tables provides the age standardised mean BMI for England in each Government office region and strategic health authorities between 1994 and 2002. The results from the tables are taken from the 'Health Survey for England: Health and lifestyles indicators for Strategic Health Authorities 19942002' report. The data shows BMI as a three-year moving average, with the latest data available in this format being 200002.
	
		Age standardised mean body mass index (BMI), by year (three-year moving average)
		
			   Persons 
			   199496 199597 199698 199799 
			 Code Name Mean SI Mean SI Mean SI Mean SI 
		
		
			  England 26.0  26.1  26.2  26.3  
			   
			 A North East 26.1  26.3  26.4  26.4  
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley 26.2  26.5 High 26.4  26.4  
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 26.0  26.2  26.4  26.5  
			   
			 B North West 25.9 Low 26.0  26.2  26.3  
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside 26.0  26.1  26.3  26.4  
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire 25.8  26.2  26.4  26.5  
			 Q14 Greater Manchester 25.8 Low 25.8 Low 26.0 Low 26.1  
			   
			 D Yorkshire and the Humber 26.2 High 26.2  26.3  26.3  
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 26.3 High 26.3  26.4  26.5  
			 Q23 South Yorkshire 26.4 High 26.3  26.2  26.2  
			 Q12 West Yorkshire 26.0  26.0  26.2  26.3  
			   
			 E East Midlands 26.2 High 26.3 High 26.4  26.5  
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 26.1  26.1  26.2  26.4  
			 Q24 Trent 26.2 High 26.4 High 26.5 High 26.6  
			   
			 F West Midlands 26.3 High 26.5 High 26.6 High 26.8 High 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country 26.4 High 26.6 High 26.7 High 26.7 High 
			 Q28 West Midlands South 26.1  26.4  26.6 High 26.8 High 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire 26.4 High 26.4  26.4  26.7  
			   
			 G East 26.0  26.1  26.3  26.3  
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 25.9  26.0  26.1  26.3  
			 Q03 Essex 25.9  26.2  26.3  26.3  
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 26.2  26.1  26.4  26.3  
			   
			 H London 25.7 Low 25.9 Low 26.0 Low 26.1 Low 
			 Q05 North Central London 25.4 Low 25.6 Low 25.7 Low 25.5 Low 
			 Q06 North East London 26.0  26.2  26.2  26.4  
			 Q04 North West London 25.7 Low 26.0  26.1  26.3  
			 Q07 South East London 26.1  26.1  26.1  26.3  
			 Q08 South West London 25.4 Low 25.5 Low 25.7 Low 25.7 Low 
			   
			 J South East 25.9 Low 26.0  26.1  26.1 Low 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 25.7 Low 26.0  26.1  26.3  
			 Q18 Kent and Medway 26.1  26.2  26.3  26.2  
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex 25.7 Low 25.9 Low 26.1  26.0 Low 
			 Q16 Thames Valley 26.0  26.0  26.0  26.0  
			 K South West 26.1  26.2  26.3  26.4  
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 25.8  26.0  26.1  26.2  
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset 26.4 High 26.5 High 26.6 High 26.7  
			 Q21 South West Peninsula 26.1  26.2  26.3  26.3  
		
	
	
		
			   Persons 
			   19982000 19992001 200202 
			 Code Name Mean SI Mean SI Mean SI 
		
		
			  England 26.4  26.6  26.7  
			 
			 A North East 26.5  26.7  27.0 High 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley 26.3  26.9  27.4 High 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 26.6  26.6  26.8  
			 
			 B North West 26.5  26.6  26.7  
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside 26.5  26.6  26.6  
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire 26.7  26.8  26.8  
			 Q14 Greater Manchester 26.4  26.6  26.8  
			 
			 D Yorkshire and the Humber 26.4  26.5  26.7  
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 26.6  26.8  27.1 High 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire 26.4  26.4  26.4  
			 Q12 West Yorkshire 26.2  26.3  26.4  
			 
			 E East Midlands 26.7  26.8 High 27.1 High 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 26.6  26.7  26.9  
			 Q24 Trent 26.7  26.9 High 27.2 High 
			 
			 F West Midlands 26.9 High 27.0 High 27.1 High 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country 27.0 High 27.1 High 27.3 High 
			 Q28 West Midlands South 26.6  26.8  26.8  
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire 26.9 High 27.0  27.1  
			 
			 G East 26.4  26.5  26.8  
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 26.3  26.5  26.5  
			 Q03 Essex 26.5  26.5  26.8  
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 26.4  26.5  27.0  
			 
			 H London 26.2  26.3 Low 26.4 Low 
			 Q05 North Central London 25.8 Low 25.8 Low 26.0 Low 
			 Q06 North East London 26.4  26.4  26.4  
			 Q04 North West London 26.4  26.5  26.0 Low 
			 Q07 South East London 26.4  26.4  26.2  
			 Q08 South West London 26.2  26.3  26.9  
			 
			 J South East 26.1 Low 26.3 Low 26.4 Low 
			 on Hampshire and Isle of Wight 26.4  26.5  26.6  
			 Q18 Kent and Medway 26.4  26.5  26.8  
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex 25.9 Low 26.0 Low 26.1 Low 
			 Q16 Thames Valley 26.2  26.3  26.4 Low 
			 
			 K South West 26.4  26.5  26.4 Low 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 26.4  26.5  26.2 Low 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset 26.6  26.7  26.5  
			 Q21 South West Peninsula 26.2  26.4  26.5  
		
	
	Note:
	In the SI (significance indicator) column, High/Low indicate age standardised values for this SHA that are significantly higher/lower than the England average, at the 95 per cent. confidence level.
	Source:
	Health Surveys for England 1994 to 2002.
	Produced by National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), February 2004.

Carers

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people in (a) Staffordshire and (b) the Tamworth constituency who are (a) paid and (b) unpaid carers for relatives.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested on paid carers is not held centrally. The number of unpaid carers as identified in the 2001 census in Staffordshire and Tamworth are available on the Office for National Statistics website at: www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/rank/rank_health.asp

Chlamydia

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many (a) people and (b) men were tested for Chlamydia by each local National Chlamydia Screening programme area in (i) 200405 and (ii) 200304;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the extent to which the National Chlamydia Screening programme successfully targets men.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
	The national chlamydia screening programme provides opportunistic screening for genital chlamydia infection and is offered to all sexually active women and men aged between 16 and 24-years-old attending a variety of health and non health care settings in England.
	We have rolled out the screening programme successfully to 25 per cent. of primary care trusts and we expect to see screening begin in most areas in April 2006. This is well ahead of the 2007 target.
	The number of programme areas, screening venues and screening tests have increased over time. By the end of the second year, 26 programme areas were in operation and screening occurred in 21 different settings, comprising 872 different venues. Men accounted for 12 per cent. of the total screened. However, provisional data suggest that to December 2005 this figure has increased to 17 per cent.
	Men have been screened in a variety of non-traditional settings including universities, military bases, prisons, youth offending institutions, work places, pharmacies, the voluntary sector and postal kits as well as through e-mail. Screening has also taken place in traditional health care settings such as general practice, contraceptive and young people's clinics.
	
		Number of screens in under 25-year-olds outside genitourinary medicine clinics by sex, programme area and year, April 2003 to March 2005
		
			April 2003 to March 2004 April 2004 to March 2005 
			 Programme area Phase Quarter began screening Males Females Total Males Females Total 
		
		
			 Birmingham 2 April to June 2004412 3,149 3,561 
			 Brent and Harrow 2 October to December 200483 590 673 
			 Brighton 2 July to September 2004434 1,707 2,141 
			 Camden and Islington 1 April to June 2003 54 3,336 3,390 145 3,623 3,768 
			 Cornwall 1 April to June 2003 408 1,848 2,256 745 2,485 3,230 
			 Coventry 2 Oct to Dec 200422 248 270 
			 Durham 2 October to December 2004488 712 1,200 
			 East Cheshire 2 April to June 2004139 1,373 1,512 
			 East Kent 2 October to December 2004208 1,073 1,281 
			 Enfield 2 October to December 20040 431 431 
			 Hull 1 Oct to Dec 2003 149 378 527 982 3,060 4,042 
			 Leeds 1 October to December 2003 45 499 544 721 2,474 3,195 
			 Liverpool 2 April to June 2004570 7,580 8,150 
			 LSL 1 January to March 2004 143 773 916 1,187 7,760 8,947 
			 Luton 2 October to December 2004136 651 787 
			 Norfolk 2 October to December 200423 313 336 
			 Nottingham 1 July to September 2003 193 2,959 3,152 318 4,876 5,194 
			 Portsmouth 1 April to June 2003 79 2,387 2,466 260 3,712 3,972 
			 Sheffield 2 July to September 2004111 1,543 1,654 
			 Slough 2 July to September 2004134 558 692 
			 Southend 1 October to December 2003 23 807 830 75 1,544 1,619 
			 Stoke 2 Oct to Dec 200427 458 485 
			 West Cheshire 2 April to June 20048 494 502 
			 Winchester 2 April to June 2004400 1,112 1,512 
			 Wirral 1 April to June 2003 108 2,762 2,870 166 2,745 2,911 
			 York 1 October to December 2003 15 427 442 141 1,065 1,206 
			 Total   1,217 16,176 17,393 7,935 55,336 63,271 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. LSL is Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham
	2. The national chlamydia screening programme has currently been rolled out to 26 programme areas (10 areas came on board between April 2003 and March 2004)

Colon Cancer

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2006, Official Report, column 2110W, on colon cancer, when the bowel screening programme as described in paragraph 4.64 of the Health White Paper, 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say', will be fully operational; what the timetable is for the implementation of this programme from April 2006; what proportion of the population aged 58 to 69 years will have a test made available to them; what plans she has to extend the programme to people aged 50 to 58 years; and how many screening centres are to be established to support the programme.

Rosie Winterton: The Government have stated their commitment to a national bowel cancer screening programme. On 30 January 2006, the new Health White Paper, 'Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services' reaffirmed that the programme will be rolled out from April 2006. Departmental budgets for 200607 are currently under consideration by Ministers, and resolution is expected by the end of March 2006.

Coronary Heart Disease

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her strategy is for (a) implementing and (b) monitoring chapter eight of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Responsibility for implementing chapter eight of the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework (CHD NSF) lies with local national health service service commissioners and providers. Shifting the Balance of Power has seen money, control and responsibility pass to local health services so that the communities they serve have greater influence over the way local resources are spent and the way local services are run. This will allow greater scope for locally determined targets and priorities to be matched to local needs. The Department is working with local service providers, commissioners and other key stakeholders to support the NHS in implementing chapter eight.
	For successful delivery, there will need to be effective health commissioning through local delivery planning processes, monitored and accountable through primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average remuneration per full-time equivalent NHS general dental practitioner in York and Selby was in (a) cash and (b) real terms (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: Average remuneration per full-time equivalent national health service general dental practitioner in the York and Selby Primary Care Trust area alone is not identifiable from data available centrally.
	All estimated average annual net incomes, between the financial years 19992000 and 200405, of general dental service (GDS) dentists with a reasonable commitment to the GDS are shown in the table.
	
		Estimated average GDS net income for dentists with a reasonable GDS commitment(9), 199798 to 200405, England and Wales -- 
		
			 Financial year Estimated average net income (cash terms) Estimated average net income (real term: 200405 prices) 
		
		
			 19992000 55,700 62,500 
			 200001(10) (11)59,200 (11)65,600 
			 200102 60,500 65,400 
			 200203 63,300 66,400 
			 200304 66,700 68,100 
			 200405 70,000 70,000 
		
	
	(9) Dentists with a reasonable commitment to the GDS are defined as dentists with GDS earnings equivalent to at least 40,000 in 199394 in fees for treatments and patient capitation. This equivalent is calculated each year by adjusting figures to take into account the effect of fee increases. The equivalent figure for 200405 is 59,100.
	(10) Commitment payments started in 2001.
	(11) Figures since 200001 use a different methodology to calculate the contribution from other non- fee/capitation payments.
	Note:
	Figures converted into real terms using GDP deflator at market prices. Department of Health and NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre analysis of Dental Practice Board payments and HMRC tax data.
	Source:
	Department of Health and NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre analysis of Dental Practice Board payments and HMRC tax data.
	The income figures cover both estimated fees for treatments and patient capitation as well as other estimated payments such as seniority payments and commitment payments and payments for maternity and sickness.

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on NHS general dental services in York and Selby in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: Primary dental care services are mainly provided by dentists working within the general dental service (CDS), or personal dental service (PDS) pilots. The CDS is currently a non discretionary service funded from a national budget where expenditure is mainly determined by the volume of national health service work that dentists choose to undertake, rather than by local budget allocations assigned to individual primary care trusts (PCTs). Data on the level of expenditure within the area of the York and Selby PCT, drawn from payments data obtained from the Dental Practice Board, is shown in the tables.
	The level of expenditure on community dental services is decided at local level by PCTs.
	
		CDS and PDS dental payments within York and Selby PCT( million, cash terms)
		
			  Gross GDS and PDS payments(12)(5508950013)(14) Net GDS and PDS payments(15) 
		
		
			 200001 8.266 5.134 
			 200102 8.998 5.715 
			 200203 9.520 5.947 
			 200304 9.879 6.359 
			 200405 10.089 7.050 
		
	
	(12) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments and point of treatment check payment training (in 2001 only), seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants, vocational trainee salaries and national insurance contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit payments, clinical audit secretarial support and travel expenses. Employer's superannuation costs are excluded.
	(13) PDS payment data are included for 200405 only and relate to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. Reliable PDS data at practice level are not available prior to 200405.
	(14) Payments are assigned to PCT area on the basis of practice postcode data.
	(15) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.
	
		CDS and PDS dental payments within York and Selby PCT( million, 200405 prices(16))
		
			  Gross GDS and PDS payments(17)(5508950018)(19) Net GDS and PDS payments(20) 
		
		
			 200001 8.266 5.134 
			 200102 8.998 5.715 
			 200203 9.520 5.947 
			 200304 9.879 6.359 
			 200405 10.089 7.050 
		
	
	(16) Figures have been converted into real terms using 200405 gross domestic product deflators, that is, 200405 = 100.
	(17) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments and point of treatment check payment training (in 2001 only), seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants, vocational trainee salaries and national insurance contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit payments, clinical audit secretarial support and travel expenses. Employer's superannuation costs are excluded.
	(18) PDS payment data are included for 200405 only and relates to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. Reliable PDS data at practice level are not available prior to 200405.
	(19) Payments are assigned to PCT area on the basis of practice postcode data.
	(20) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent NHS general dental practitioners there are in York; and how many there were in each of the previous five years.

Rosie Winterton: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on Wednesday 8 March 2006, Official Report, column 1613W.

Dentistry

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists, excluding principals, assistants and trainees, worked for the Bournemouth primary care trust in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. The number of national health service dentists within Bournemouth teaching primary care trust (PCT) as at September each year is shown in the table.
	
		Bournemouth teaching PCT
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 64 
			 1998 73 
			 1999 75 
			 2000 73 
			 2001 72 
			 2002 76 
			 2003 71 
			 2004 70 
			 2005 74 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, for example, data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
	2. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	3. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. PCT areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory.
	4. Figures have been provided by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre. The data source is the Dental Practice Board and the figures are based on the numbers of dentists with open GDS or PDS contracts.
	5. A dentist with a GDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the PCT. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual dentists.
	6. Data on dentists that work only in private practice are not held centrally.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Dentistry

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average salary of an NHS dentist was in the last year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: Most dentists who provide national health service primary dental care services are not paid on a salaried basis, but through a system of NHS fees and other payments that go towards the costs of running a dental practice as well as the dentist's net income.
	The historical estimates of average earnings and expenses for dentists are calculated by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, based on data on gross fees and payments from the Dental Practice Board (DPB) and data from HM Revenue and Customs on expenses.
	DPB payment data show that on average, a dentist with a reasonable NHS commitment in 200405 in the general dental services (GDS) received gross GDS income of about 154,350. Dentists with a reasonable commitment are defined as those with gross fee earnings of 59,100 or more. These averages covered some 7,640 GDS principal dentists who worked throughout the year 200405.
	HM Revenue and Customs information from dentists' tax returns show that the average ratio of expenses to gross earnings for a highly committed NHS dentist is around 52 per cent. (200304 tax year). The same source gives average net income of a highly committed NHS dentist from all sources as 78,600 in the tax year 200304. This information is taken from the tax returns of 392 CDS principal dentists who were in non-associate business arrangements for whom the tax year ended between January and March 2004.
	Based on the data from these sources, the Department estimates that a highly committed NHS dentist earns an average income of around 80,000 in 200506.

Dentistry

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received on the proposed changes to the NHS dental contract.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not keep data on the precise number of representations received on a specific issue. However, we have received a number of letters, e-mails and telephone calls from stakeholder organisations and from individual dentists about the new contractual arrangements.
	We published the draft contract regulations in August 2005 specifically to invite comment and a number of organisations and individual dentists took this opportunity to put forward their views.

Dentistry

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received on the new NHS dentistry contract; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has received a number of representations from stakeholder organisations and from individual dentists about the new contractual arrangements.
	The British Dental Association (BDA) has made recent representations about the contractual requirement for dentists to carry out an agreed number of (weighted) courses of treatment or units of dental activity, in return for their guaranteed annual contract value.
	The Department has indicated to the BDA that we regard the new contracts as offering a good deal for dentists. They will have a guaranteed annual contract value based on their current national health service earnings, which give an average net income of 80,000 per year for a committed NHS dentist, for at least 5 per cent. fewer (weighted) courses of treatment compared with the current general dental services system. The Department has expressed concern that the BDA appears to be overlooking the evidence of the personal dental services pilots, which have shown that abolishing the fee-per-item remuneration system, also supports dentists in carrying out simple courses of treatment, with more time available for preventative work.

Dentistry

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have signed up to the new NHS dentistry contract in North Yorkshire.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available centrally. The new dental contract will be introduced on 1 April 2006.

Dentistry

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there have been in Haltemprice and Howden constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): Number of national health service dentists in Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency as at 30 September each year
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 18 
			 1998 18 
			 1999 17 
			 2000 18 
			 2001 21 
			 2002 23 
			 2003 26 
			 2004 28 
			 2005 31 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data include all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the GDS or PDS.
	2. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	3. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. Constituency areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Diabetes

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with diabetes (a) in the area served by Shropshire County primary care trust and (b) in each constituency in Shropshire in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The figures are not available in the format requested. The table shows the number of people identified by practices as having diabetes. Data from before December 2004 are not available.
	
		Number
		
			 Primary care trust (PCT) December 2005 December 2004 
		
		
			 Shropshire County PCT 10,927 9,345 
			 Telford and Wrekin PCT 6,199 5,458 
			 Total 17,126 14,803

Diabetes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diabetic nurses are employed by Milton Keynes primary care trust.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
	The latest census does not separately identify diabetic nurses from the rest of the nursing work force.

Digital Hearing Aids

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the waiting lists for fitting of new digital hearing aids at the audiology department of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The modernising hearing aid services (MHAS) programme run by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf on behalf of the Department has achieved its target for all 164 national health service audiology services to be routinely fitting digital hearing aids by April 2005.
	Information relating to waiting times for digital hearing aids at the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals is a matter for the chair of the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I have written to Clive Morton informing him of the hon. Member's inquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library. I am informed by the chairman of Monitor, the statutory name for which is the independent regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts, that the trust has made good progress during 200506 in addressing the financial deficit which it incurred in 200405.

Drug Rehabilitation (Cambridgeshire)

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential drug rehabilitation places were available in Cambridgeshire in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: According to the national treatment agency's (NTA) directory of residential services there are no residential drug rehabilitation places in Cambridgeshire. There is a distinction between residential drug rehabilitation places available in an area and the residential treatment available to the population of that area. Placements are calculated, therefore, by the number of residential placements commissioned by an area's drug action team (DAT) or local social services authority. Figures for Cambridgeshire DAT are shown in the table 1 .
	1 The data were first collected from the local DAT as part of the national drug treatment monitoring system for 200304.
	
		
			  Number of placements (actual) 
		
		
			 200304 12 
			 200405 30 
			 200506 282 
		
	
	(21) To end of 2005.

Electroconvulsive Therapy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what legislation covers the administration of electroconvulsive therapy in hospitals in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will bring forward legislation to ensure that valid consent is obtained where an individual has the ability to grant or refuse consent to the use of electroconvulsive therapy; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Mental Health Act 1983 sets out the circumstances in which people with a mental disorder who are being treated compulsorily under that act may receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The act allows ECT to be given to patients who are under compulsory powers when a patient with capacity consents or if the patient's doctor prescribes it and a second opinion appointed doctor agrees to it. The Government are planning to introduce new mental health legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Health Services (Shropshire/Staffordshire)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many successful clinical negligence claims were made against hospitals trusts under the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority area in 200405.

Rosie Winterton: There were 19 successful clinical negligence claims made against hospital trusts in the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority in 200405.

Health Services (Shropshire/Staffordshire)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the clinical negligence payments made by hospitals trusts under the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority area in 200405.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested on the clinical negligence payments made by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) on behalf of hospital trusts within the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority (SHA) in 200405 is shown in the following table.
	
		Clinical negligence payments made by the NHSLA in 200405 for all claims against trusts in Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA -- 
		
			 Member name Total paid 
		
		
			 Burton Hospitals National Health Service Trust 335,088 
			 Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 652,418 
			 North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust 106,764 
			 Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District  Hospital NHS Trust 81,258 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 951,905 
			 South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Trust 33,420 
			 Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 0 
			 University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 3,515,590 
		
	
	Note:
	The data apply to all payments made by NHSLA in 200405 regardless of the year of claim.

Hip Replacement (Peterborough)

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for a hip replacement was in the Greater Peterborough primary care partnership area in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Mean and median time waited in days based on elective finished admission episodes (waiting list and booked cases) for hip replacement surgery in North Peterborough and South Peterborough primary care trusts. National health service hospitals, England 200405
		
			  Median waiting time (days) 
		
		
			 200001 259 
			 200102 191 
			 200203 237 
			 200304 211 
			 200405 194 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Finished admission episodes:
	A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2. Main operation:
	The main operation is the first recorded operation in the hospital episodes statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, for example time waited, but the figures for all operations count of episodes give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	3. Time waited (days):
	Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
	4. Ungrossed data:
	Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data, that is, the data is ungrossed.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the start-up costs of a new provider of the independent complaints and advocacy service in the West Midlands complying with the required model of delivery.

Rosie Winterton: As part of the tender process the Department required the tenderers to submit details of estimated start-up costs to cover staff transfers from the current service providers, additional recruitment if required, training and development, premises, information technology, transfer of records and any other costs that might be necessarily incurred. For budgetary purposes only, we considered the costs provided to confirm that they were realistic. However, only actual costs incurred will be reimbursed to the service providers. In the case of the West Midlands the estimated set-up costs are 3.5 per cent. of the total five-year contract cost for that region.

Kidney Transplants

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each (a) primary care trust area and (b) acute trust area are waiting for a kidney transplant.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not routinely available by primary care trust nor by acute trust area. The number registered 1 for a kidney 2 transplant at 18 February 2006 in the United Kingdom by strategic health authority is shown in the table.
	1 Active and suspendedsuspended means the patient has been temporarily removed from the list.
	2 Includes kidney/pancreas.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Number 
		
		
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 183 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 148 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 356 
			 Channel Islands 14 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 220 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 95 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 176 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 194 
			 Essex 145 
			 Greater Manchester 401 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 185 
			 Isle of Man 3 
			 Kent and Medway 135 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 229 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 250 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 197 
			 North Central London 199 
			 North East London 183 
			 North West London 261 
			 Northern Ireland 274 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 127 
			 Scotland 684 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 192 
			 Somerset and Dorset 93 
			 South East London 213 
			 South West London 137 
			 South West Peninsula 152 
			 South Yorkshire 172 
			 Surrey and Sussex 195 
			 Thames Valley 233 
			 Trent 335 
			 Wales 338 
			 West Yorkshire 281 
			 Unavailable 357 
			 Total 7,357

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column 2115W, what estimate she has made of the proportion of those who attended the series of roadshows after the pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Mental Health Bill who were black and minority ethnic users of mental health services; and how many people attended in total;
	(2)  what steps her Department is taking to redraft the draft Mental Health Bill following consultation with black and minority ethnic groups.

Rosie Winterton: In recent months, we have consulted widely with black and minority ethnic groups as part of the race equality impact assessment. Consultation will continue as part of the process of developing a Mental Health Bill. Approximately 180 people attended the consultation road shows held in November. Of these, one third were service users, mainly from a black and minority ethnic background. Carers from a black and minority ethnic background also attended the meeting, as well as mental health professionals and voluntary organisations representing black and minority ethnic service users and carers.
	Officials are discussing options for further REIA consultation with members of the black and minority ethnic health network. The timetable for consultation has been amended to enable further consultation. The race equality impact assessment will be published alongside the bill when it is introduced into Parliament.

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2006 to the hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor), Official Report, column 590W, on the Mental Health Bill, what the structure of the further consultation on the Bill will be; whether it will take the form of a formal consultation; what the duration of the consultation will be; and whether it is her intention to introduce a Mental Health Bill in this session of Parliament.

Rosie Winterton: We have agreed to extend the consultation which will contribute to the racial equality impact assessment (REIA) on the Mental Health Bill. Consultation is an on-going process and we are currently considering the next steps. Departmental officials are discussing options for further REIA consultation with members of the black and minority ethnic health network and have agreed to amend the timetable for consultation. We intend to introduce a Mental Health Bill into Parliament this session. The race equality impact assessment will be published alongside the Bill when it is introduced in Parliament.

Methylphenidate

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for methylphenidate were written in each of the last five years, broken down by type of methylphenidate.

Jane Kennedy: It is not known how many prescriptions for methylphenidate drugs have been written. However, the table shows the total number of national health service prescription items that were written and dispensed in the community in England for the different products of methylphenidate prescribed, including generic versions, in each of the last five years where data are available.
	
		Number of prescription items of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride dispensed in the community in England 2000 to 2004 -- Thousand
		
			 Product name 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Concerta (22) 0.1 44.6 134.9 189.2 
			 Equasym 4.9 27.7 47.0 54.5 34.1 
			 Metadate (22) (22) (23)0.0 (23)0.0 (23)0.0 
			 Methylphenidate HCI (generic) (23)0.0 0.1 0.4 0.3 67.6 
			 Ritalin 181.3 180.6 161.8 124.5 67.8 
			 Tranquilyn (22) (22) (23)0.0 0.2 0.3 
			 Total Methylphenidate prescription items 186.2 208.5 254.0 314.5 359.1 
		
	
	(22) Denotes that no items were dispensed.
	(23) 0.0 denotes less than 50 prescription items were dispensed.
	Source:
	Prescription cost analysis system, Prescription Pricing Authority.
	Detailed information on the number of prescriptions of Methylphenidate at individual preparation level is available from the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk.

Ministerial Meetings

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when she last met with the Health Ministers in (a) the Welsh Assembly Government and (b) the Scottish Executive;
	(2)  how many times she has met the health ministers in the (a) Welsh Assembly Government and (b) Scottish Executive since her appointment.

Liam Byrne: The Secretary of State for Health has met with the Health Minister for the Scottish Executive once in October 2005. She has yet to meet with the Health Minister for the Welsh Assembly Government.
	The Secretary of State and the Department are in regular correspondence with the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly.

Ministerial Travel

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors she took into account on 9 March when deciding to take her official car from her Department in Richmond Terrace to Number 10 Downing street.

Liam Byrne: The Secretary of State's journey on 9 March to No. 10 Downing street originated at her home.

MRSA

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide additional funding to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to tackle MRSA.

Rosie Winterton: Maintaining hospital hygiene is part of an everyday baseline of activity carried out across the national health service. Against a background of above-inflation levels of investment in this area, all NHS trusts are expected to implement a range of improvements in healthcare, including successful pursuit of trust-based targets for reducing methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Therefore, there are no plans to provide additional funding for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to tackle MRSA.
	We continue to monitor individual trust performance and have set up an MRSA improvement programme, funded by the Department, with specialist teams providing tailored support for trusts. This work will reinforce those mutually reinforcing initiatives already in place throughout the NHS. Selection for participation in the programme will depend on a trust's progress towards the MRSA target and other factors.

Neuroblastoma

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to questions 47415 and 47427, on neuroblastoma, tabled by the hon. Member for North-East Milton Keynes on 30 January 2006.

Rosie Winterton: A reply was given to the hon. Member on Tuesday 21 February 2006, Official Report, column 471W.

NHS (Violence)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training NHS staff are given to enable them to deal with potentially violent patients and visitors.

Rosie Winterton: From April 2004, the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) has made available a national syllabus for conflict resolution training (CRT) for all frontline staff and professionals working in the national health service.
	This will equip NHS staff with the necessary skills to identify and de-escalate potentially violent situations from occurring. From returns made by health bodies for the last financial year, it is estimated that around 252,000 frontline NHS staff will have been trained by 31 March 2006.
	The NHS SMS has also developed a specific training syllabus for staff working in mental health and learning disability settings. Work is also underway to develop a specific CRT syllabus for ambulance personnel.

Organ Donor Cards

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people carrying organ donor cards in each year between 1995 and 2005.

Rosie Winterton: The first organ donor cards, initially for kidneys only, were introduced in 1971. A survey in spring 2003 revealed that 36 per cent. of the 90 per cent. of people who said they supported organ donation in principle said they had or thought they had had (at some time) a donor card.
	Although the donor card is still widely available, all recent campaign work has been aimed at encouraging people to register their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Currently 13,000,558 people22 per cent. of the United Kingdom population have registered. The Government have set the objective of encouraging 16 million people to register their wishes by 2010. The number registered on the organ donor register from 1994 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  People Registered (million) 
		
		
			 1994 0.14 
			 1995 2.25 
			 1996 3.49 
			 1997 4.22 
			 1998 4.86 
			 1999 7.45 
			 2000 8.01 
			 2001 9.03 
			 2002 10.10 
			 2003 10.91 
			 2004 11.95

Orthodontics

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors were taken into account when deciding to place orthodontists' remuneration on the same basis as that of dentists under the NHS contract changes.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's commitment has always been to base contract values for all dentists providing general dental services on their most recent gross earnings. 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005 is the most recent 12-month period for which data are available.
	The new arrangements for orthodontists are not identical to those for general dental practitioners. In each case, the dentist will be guaranteed an annual national health service contract value, paid in 12 monthly instalments. For general dental practitioners, the services to be provided in return are measured through units of dental activity, which correspond to three types of courses of treatment, with a weighting to reflect their relative complexity. For orthodontists, the services to be provided are measured through units of orthodontic activity, with different units to reflect care assessment and care start.

Palliative Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the commitment contained within the Labour party 2005 election manifesto that investment in palliative care services will double, with particular reference to (a) the timescale over which this commitment will be met and (b) the size of the budget in the baseline year used for the purposes of the commitment; and whether the commitment will be financed from her Department's Centrally Funded Initiatives and Services and Special Allocations budget.

Rosie Winterton: In the White Paper Our health, our care, our say the Government mapped out a strategy for how we will meet our manifesto commitment on palliative care and set out the key areas of action that we will now develop in partnership with key stakeholders. These are the establishment of end of life care networks; ensuring that all staff who work with people who are dying are properly trained to look after dying patients and their carers; investing in community-based specialist palliative care services and auditing capacity of care provision for disabled children and children with complex health needs. The strategy will be delivered over a three-year period.
	In Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS we announced that the reconfiguration of primary care trusts (PCTs) would save at least 250 million, which would be channelled back into frontline services. The savings will be available to invest in the local health economy on the agreed Labour party manifesto priorities, including palliative care. Any change in PCT provided services needs to be made by December 2008.

Professional Misconduct

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health care professionals who have had complaints of (a) sexual misconduct and (b) inappropriate behaviour upheld by their professional body are in NHS employment.

Liam Byrne: National health service employers are responsible for ensuring that their staff do not pose a threat to the safety of patients and for acting on information about the registration status of staff subject to statutory regulation.

Recombinant Factor VIII

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the files and information the Department holds on the supply for use in the UK of Factor VIII and blood and plasma products, including files relating to the source of such products from inmates within the Arkansas prison system, over the last 37 years; and what record she has of files and information once held which are no longer available.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 7 February 2006
	Officials would need to undertake lengthy enquiries to provide the information requested on files held on the supply for use in the United Kingdom of Factor VIII and blood and plasma products, including files relating to the source of such products.
	During the HIV litigation many papers were recalled. We understand that papers were not adequately archived and were unfortunately destroyed in the early 1990s.
	Officials have also established that documents relating to the advisory committee on the virological safety of Blood were destroyed in error between July 1994 and March 1998.

Salary Statistics

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average starting salary was for a newly qualified (a) nurse, (b) GP, (c) hospital doctor and (d) laboratory technician in Oxford in each of the last 10 years.

Caroline Flint: Information specifically on starting pay for nurses, general practitioners, hospital doctors and laboratory technicians by specific area is not collected centrally.

St. Bartholomew's Hospital

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the costs incurred in the private finance initiative project to redevelop St. Bartholomew's and the London NHS Trust as a result of the delay in giving final approval to the project beyond 31 January.

Jane Kennedy: Since the trust submitted their final business case, they have undertaken additional work with their private sector partners. This has resulted in the annual unitary charge the trust has to pay over the lifetime of the contract being reduced from 116.9 million per annum to 96.6 million per annum. This will save the taxpayer approximately 650 million when measured over the original concession period.

Stroke

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance her Department offers for the setting up of centres to help the survivors of strokes; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Provision of services and support for survivors of stroke is the responsibility of local authorities and primary care trusts. Standard five of the older people's national service framework sets out the long-term support that should be provided for stroke patients including social and emotional support to minimise the loss of independence following the stroke, and help manage the consequences of stroke.
	Voluntary organisations also have an invaluable role to play in providing support to stroke survivors. We are working closely with voluntary organisations, including The Stroke Association, Connect and Different Strokes, as well as a range of other stakeholders to develop a national stroke strategy. This will look at the provision of services from prevention right through to long-term support.

Trade in Organs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action her Department takes against those who undertake illicit trade in organs; and what advice she offers to NHS operatives on this issue.

Rosie Winterton: The Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 prohibits commercial dealings in human organs intended for transplantation and any person suspected of committing an offence under the Act will be investigated. Once commenced, the Human Tissue Act 2004 will repeal and replace the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989. The Human Tissue Act 2004 prohibits commercial dealings in all human material (tissue and organs) for transplantation and a person found guilty of an offence under the Act is liable to a term of imprisonment, a fine or both.

Transplant Surgery

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were on waiting lists for transplant surgery for (a) heart, (b) liver and (c) kidney in each year between 1995 and 2005, broken down by region.

Rosie Winterton: The following tables show the number registered (active and suspended 1 ) for transplant surgery, at 31 December of each year from 1997 for heart, liver and kidney. Similar figures were not routinely collected for 1995 and 1996.
	
		Number registered (active and suspended(24)) for a heart(25) transplant in the United Kingdom at 31 Decemberof each year since 1997, by region(26)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Northern and Yorkshire 51 62 49 61 50 53 54 42 24 
			 Trent 51 45 42 24 5 
			 Anglia and Oxford 46 38 37 33 26 40 33 31 33 
			 North Thames 169 145 165 102 72 55 51 61 50 
			 South Thames 10 15 14 6 1 
			 North West 59 32 33 17 8 9 12 15 19 
			 West Midlands 18 25 19 22 16 13 12 12 15 
			 Scotland 41 36 32  9 5 1 5 3 
		
	
	(24) Suspended means the patient has been temporarily removed from the list.
	(25) Includes heart/lung.
	(26) Numbers are based on the region of the transplant centre where patient was registered. For heart transplants, three of these centres closed in this period, one only temporarily.
	
		Number registered (active and suspended(27)) for a liver transplant in the UK at 31 Decemberof each year since 1997, by region(28)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Northern and Yorkshire 29 27 38 30 24 42 46 31 47 
			 Anglia and Oxford 13 18 22 14 9 8 40 11 20 
			 North Thames 35 30 13 13 14 14 27 23 40 
			 South Thames 67 66 58 62 51 69 88 117 154 
			 West Midlands 36 55 30 25 46 25 25 48 75 
			 Scotland 4 7 6 11 16 10 23 28 28 
			 Total 184 203 167 155 160 168 249 258 364 
		
	
	(27) Suspended means the patient has been temporarily removed from the list.
	(28) Numbers are based on the region of the transplant centre where patient was registered. For heart transplants, three of these centres closed in this period, one only temporarily.
	
		Number registered (active and suspended(29)) for a kidney(30) transplant in the UK at 31 December of each year since 1997, by region(31)
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Northern and Yorkshire 570 560 573 556 589 615 638 668 688 
			 Trent 460 498 533 556 628 611 671 736 768 
			 Anglia and Oxford 450 409 369 368 458 476 497 524 608 
			 North Thames 1,031 1,048 1,084 1,163 1,058 1,001 950 1,032 1,065 
			 South Thames 534 557 527 553 530 597 615 722 637 
			 North West 703 679 724 736 772 840 912 935 953 
			 South West 445 421 477 504 498 546 531 539 587 
			 West Midlands 528 605 640 690 702 703 699 721 732 
			 Wales 160 200 222 248 221 236 258 265 264 
			 Northern Ireland 122 138 171 186 201 209 231 247 273 
			 Scotland 594 578 584 566 566 585 556 576 681 
			 Total 5,597 5,693 5,904 6,126 6,223 6,419 6,558 6,965 7,256 
		
	
	(29) Suspended means the patient has been temporarily removed from the list.
	(30) Includes kidney/pancreas.
	(31) Numbers are based on the region of the transplant centre where patient was registered. For heart transplants, three of these centres closed in this period, one only temporarily.

Type-2 Diabetes

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were diagnosed as suffering from type-2 diabetes in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The figures are not available in the format requested. The table shows the number of children admitted to hospital each year where type-2 diabetes was recorded in diagnoses fields, including primary diagnoses and any of the secondary diagnoses fields.
	
		All diagnoses count of patient for selected diagnosesage at start of episode-under 18national health service hospitals England, 199798 to 200405
		
			  Patient counts 
		
		
			 199798 176 
			 199899 180 
			 19992000 189 
			 200001 196 
			 200102 242 
			 200304 307 
			 200405 338 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Patient counts
	Patient counts are based on the unique patient identifier hospital episodes statistics identification (HESID). This identifier is derived based on patient's date of birth, postcode, sex, local patient identifier and NHS number, using an agreed algorithm. Where data are incomplete, HESID might erroneously link episodes or fail to recognise episodes for the same patient. Care is therefore needed, especially where duplicate records persist in the data. The patient count cannot be summed across a table where patient may have episodes in more than one cell.
	2. All diagnoses count of patients
	These figures represent a count of all patients where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (seven prior to 200203) diagnosis fields in the HES record.
	Source:
	Hospital Episodes Statistics. NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of funding for adult education was in each London borough in each of the last five years; and what funding is estimated to be for 200506.

Bill Rammell: The Department does not hold figures for adult education funding at local or regional levels. The Department allocates funds for the post-16 education and training sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) working through 47 local offices. Some of the information you require is available on the LSC's website. The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body within a framework set by Government. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 14 February 2006
	I write in response to your request for information from the Secretary of State for Education about the level of funding for adult education in London. I attach a breakdown of Adult Community Learning (ACL) expenditure for the academic years 2001/2 to 2004/5 and the forecast expenditure for 2005/6 by London Borough.
	The LSC took over responsibility for funding ACL from April 2001 when it was established. The funding for 2001/02, the transition year, was set by the Department for Education  Skills. Data for years prior to 2001 is held by the Department.
	Finally, it should be noted that this data relates to Adult Community Learning and does not include adult learners attending training courses at Further Education Colleges.
	
		Adult community learning (ACL) allocations by borough from 2001/02 academic year to date, London Central LSC
		
			 Provider name 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06(32) 
		
		
			 Southwark 887,097 1,089,596 1,220,870 1,453,830 1,453,830 
			 Wandsworth 1,506,675 1,736,892 1,838,354 1,907,390 1,908,715 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,034,227 1,216,337 1,252,625 1,320,308 1,320,308 
			 Camden 911,903 1,092,610 1, 149,927 1,326,280 1,326,280 
			 Westminster City Council 2,471,430 2,777,688 2,877,998 3,000,212 3,000,212 
			 Lambeth 1,878,462 2,167,835 2,273,074 2,490,185 2,490,185 
			 Islington 541,593 667,816 795,113 1,035,462 1,035,462 
		
	
	
		London North LSC
		
			 Provider name 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06(32) 
		
		
			 Waltham Forest 1,434,058 1,659,492 1,786,630 1,903,697 1,908,265 
			 Enfield 129,181 236,985 365,371 475,334 451,964 
			 Barnet 288,929 409,164 526,481 555,936 451,964 
			 Haringey 1,649,780 1,870,663 2,024,710 2,310,147 2,309,068 
		
	
	
		London South LSC
		
			 Provider name 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06(32) 
		
		
			 Kingston upon Thames 623,956 758,818 776,585 824,710 794,845 
			 Bromley 763,776 1,004,813 1,074,538 1,150,929 1,137,889 
			 Sutton 1,501,048 1,701,915 1,785,353 1,829,280 1,207,580 
			 Merton 751,786 904,487 956,094 978,095 998,989 
			 Croydon 1,764,422 2,165,179 2,324,078 2,361,538 2,355,713 
			 Richmond upon Thames 388,161 498,299 606,578 617,937 617,937 
		
	
	
		London East LSC
		
			 Provider name 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06(32) 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 668,598 803,655 993,646 990,387 992,554 
			 Bexley 851,261 1,009,190 1,307,266 1,314,446 1,289,446 
			 City of London 471,346 533,807 550,336 598,384 563,384 
			 Greenwich 1,467,187 1,796,680 1,997,960 2,038,835 1,988,635 
			 Hackney 1,447,378 1,687,923 2,222,880 2,067,381 2,017,381 
			 Havering 340,276 474,946 559,139 569,351 569,351 
			 Lewisham 1,863,919 2,111,576 2,442,708 2,565,384 2,478,484 
			 Newham 1,201,847 1,461,968 1,731,041 1,748,288 1,675,888 
			 Redbridge 862,171 1,098,967 1,263,947 1,336,061 1,330,061 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,045,420 2,317,771 2,485,777 2,583,821 2,505,491 
		
	
	
		London West LSC
		
			 Provider name 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06(32) 
		
		
			 Brent 1,180,982 1,470,448 1,606,740 1,682,708 1,687,131 
			 Hillingdon 527,379 694,376 842,972 864,375 898,402 
			 Hounslow 933,891 1,118,207 1,216,691 1,284,426 1,283,850 
			 Ealing 302,462 380,266 604,005 650,527 620,527 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,507,034 1,760,364 1,817,690 1,900,865 1,900,288 
			 Harrow 446,552 602,928 671,501 770,009 723,820 
		
	
	(32) Forecast.

Assistive Technology

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what transfer of resources she proposes to make in respect of the transfer from April 2006 of responsibility from her Department to local education authorities for the provision of assistive technology to pupils with complex physical, learning and communication disabilities who are presently supported under the Communication Aids Project.

Maria Eagle: None. We have always made it clear that the Communication Aids Project, which ends in March 2006, was created to supplement, not replace, provision made locally for school-age children with significant communication difficulties.
	Local service providers have a central role in meeting needs, including the needs of individuals with severely impaired communication. Where children are concerned, we would be looking to children's services, through children's trusts, to provide appropriate support and equipment to all disabled children.

Autism

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps her Department is taking to promote the publication Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Good Practice Guidance;
	(2)  how many copies of Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Good Practice Guidance have been distributed to (a) schools and (b) local education authorities; and what assessment she has made of the implementation of its recommendations.

Maria Eagle: Since it was launched in 2002, almost 30,500 copies of the Department for Education and Skills and Department of Health's Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs): Good Practice Guidance have been distributed on request and free of charge. It is not possible to say how many of these sent to private addresses were ordered on behalf of schools and local authorities, however at least 8,500 have gone to schools and at least 3,700 have gone to local authorities. The guidance has also been available on the Department's website since 2002. Three conferences were held in 2003 in London, Nottingham and Leeds to promote the guidance.
	Through the work of the Department-funded Special Educational Needs Regional Partnerships the Guidance is being used to audit and develop provision. For example, the West Midlands has developed an early interventions framework for children with ASDs based on the Guidance, the North West is using the guidance to undertake peer supported self-reviews of support services across the region and the South West produced Aiming High, a video to illustrate the implementation of the guidance in schools. Individual authorities, such as Bolton and Worcestershire, have also worked with the guidance to develop provision in their areas.
	The Department will, with the Autism Working Group which developed the Good Practice Guidance, look at how use of the Good Practice Guidance and its effectiveness can be evaluated and what can be done to build on it to encourage more good practice throughout the country.

Counselling

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department is taking to provide counselling services to young people.

Maria Eagle: Access to counselling services is available locally through a number of the Department's programmes including the Connexions Service and the Behaviour and Education Support Teams, Learning Support Units and Learning Mentors established as part of the Behaviour Improvement Programme. Schools and colleges also provide or buy in counselling services for their students. Through the Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme, multi-agency support teamssome incorporating both generalist and more specialist counselling and therapeutic skillsare also developing across local areas. We have provided further encouragement to these developments through our Green Paper, Youth Matters, and the recent establishment of 14 Targeted Youth Support Pathfinders.

Counselling

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on counselling services in schools in each of the last 10 years.

Maria Eagle: Information on the total sums spent on counselling in schools is not available. Counselling services are decided upon and funded locally from a variety of sources.

Departmental Secondments

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people from science and technology backgrounds have been seconded into the civil service in her Department in each of the last three years.

Maria Eagle: Secondees to DfES are deployed across all directorates within the Department to meet business needs. There is no current requirement for the Department to collect such data and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Education Provision (Hendon)

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on levels of school (a) attendance and (b) exclusions in Hendon.

Jacqui Smith: In Hendon constituency the rates of authorised absence (percentage of half days missed in 2004/05) were 5.3 per cent. in maintained primary schools and 5.6 per cent. in maintained secondary schools. The comparative rates for unauthorised absence were 0.9 per cent. in primary schools and 1.1 per cent. in secondary schools. The primary school rates for both authorised and unauthorised absence are above the local authority (Barnet) and National averages. Hendon secondary schools were below the National average for authorised and unauthorised absence, but were above the local authority average for unauthorised absence.
	In Hendon constituency in 2003/04 (the most recent year for which figures are available) there were no permanent exclusions from maintained primary or special schools, and nine permanent exclusions from maintained secondary schools (0.11 per cent. of the total number of pupils on the school roll in January 2004). Data are given in the table for exclusions from Hendon secondary schools from 1999/2000 to 2003/04. Over the last three years the rates of permanent exclusions in schools in Hendon have been half of those for Barnet LA and for England, however the figures for Hendon are quite small and can fluctuate over the years.
	
		Maintained secondary schools: number and percentage of permanent exclusions
		
			  Hendon parliamentary constituency Barnet local authority England(33) 
			  Number Percentage(34) Number Percentage(34) Number Percentage(34) 
		
		
			 1999/00 16 0.20 50 0.24 6,710 0.21 
			 2000/01(35) 23 0.28 50 0.24 7,310 0.23 
			 2001/02(35) 9 0.11 51 0.24 7,740 0.24 
			 2002/03(35) 8 0.10 42 0.20 7,690 0.23 
			 2003/04(35) 9 0.11 42 0.20 8,320 0.25 
		
	
	(33) National figures have been rounded to the nearest 10
	(34) The number of exclusions expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils on the school roll in January of the same school year. Excludes dually registered pupils
	(35) There are known quality issues with exclusions data for these years. Figures shown here for Hendon.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Educational Psychologists

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many educational psychologists were employed in each local education authority in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The following table provides the number of full-time equivalent educational psychologists employed in each local authority in each January since 1997.
	
		Full-time equivalent number of educational psychologists(36) in local authorities, in England 1997 to 2005
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 City of London (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) 
			 Camden 8 8 8 11 12 11 13 16 16 
			 Greenwich 16 17 16 13 15 16 21 12 15 
			 Hackney 11 10 11 12 13 12 11 12 12 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 7 8 9 8 6 8 10 11 11 
			 Islington 10 13 12 14 12 10 9 15 14 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 9 10 8 8 6 7 7 7 6 
			 Lambeth 13 8 11 13 15 15 14 21 14 
			 Lewisham 14 14 13 13 14 14 12 9 12 
			 Southwark 14 11 12 12 12 13 12 15 15 
			 Tower Hamlets 14 30 16 15 14 13 13 14 15 
			 Wandsworth 11 12 11 11 11 12 12 13 12 
			 City of Westminster 10 7 7 7 9 9 9 8 9 
			 Barking and Dagenham 13 11 12 14 12 13 13 16 15 
			 Barnet 16 16 16 14 16 12 16 11 15 
			 Bexley 11 10 11 11 10 9 9 9 14 
			 Brent 12 10 9 10 11 12 11 13 14 
			 Bromley 12 12 12 11 12 10 10 10 10 
			 Croydon 10 15 14 13 10 14 12 14 15 
			 Ealing 13 14 24 15 14 16 12 13 14 
			 Enfield 15 13 18 21 19 21 17 23 23 
			 Haringey 15 13 15 14 12 10 10 12 13 
			 Harrow 11 5 9 10 11 10 9 12 13 
			 Havering 8 10 10 10 10 10 11 10 10 
			 Hillingdon 12 14 15 14 16 14 16 13 14 
			 Hounslow 10 11 10 11 11 10 8 9 11 
			 Kingston upon Thames 5 7 6 7 5 8 8 8 8 
			 Merton 7 7 7 7 10 10 7 8 8 
			 Newham 12 13 16 19 18 16 13 11 12 
			 Red bridge 8 8 10 10 7 10 10 10 11 
			 Richmond upon Thames 7 8 8 7 6 (37) 6 7 7 
			 Sutton 6 5 7 9 11 9 8 7 8 
			 Waltham Forest 13 13 13 13 8 12 18 19 12 
			 Birmingham 39 40 46 23 46 46 53 50 55 
			 Coventry 13 13 14 15 16 16 16 14 11 
			 Dudley 11 11 12 8 12 11 10 6 12 
			 Sandwell 14 15 14 16 15 16 13 16 16 
			 Solihull 9 10 10 11 10 9 11 12 12 
			 Walsall 11 13 12 12 11 9 8 14 11 
			 Wolverhampton 12 13 10 13 15 18 17 16 18 
			 Knowsley 9 8 9 9 9 (37) 6 7 5 
			 Liverpool 16 16 15 15 14 21 17 18 20 
			 St. Helens 6 8 7 6 8 8 9 9 8 
			 Sefton 10 11 11 10 14 14 16 13 12 
			 Wirral 14 13 14 13 12 11 11 11 15 
			 Bolton 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 
			 Bury 8 7 6 8 9 5 6 9 8 
			 Manchester 18 21 22 18 21 20 21 19 19 
			 Oldham 7 8 8 9 9 9 6 9 11 
			 Rochdale 8 9 9 8 9 8 7 6 6 
			 Salford 10 8 8 11 9 8 6 10 11 
			 Stockport 12 11 11 11 10 12 13 12 13 
			 Tameside 8 10 10 10 10 10 9 12 12 
			 Trafford 5 5 5 4 7 5 6 6 6 
			 Wigan 12 12 12 12 10 11 13 12 12 
			 Barnsley 4 7 7 7 8 6 6 4 9 
			 Doncaster 11 12 11 11 10 11 12 12 15 
			 Rotherham 12 11 8 7 9 10 12 10 9 
			 Sheffield 19 21 22 23 26 22 21 21 17 
			 Bradford 19 19 21 22 22 20 18 11 13 
			 Calderdale 8 7 7 8 9 5 8 8 5 
			 Kirklees 22 23 20 23 25 22 23 26 25 
			 Leeds 15 17 19 22 20 22 24 40 32 
			 Wakefield 10 10 11 9 9 11 13 10 11 
			 Gateshead 9 10 10 10 7 11 11 13 14 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 14 10 15 11 9 10 10 14 13 
			 North Tyneside 7 8 6 8 9 9 9 10 11 
			 South Tyneside 6 8 5 7 7 7 5 6 8 
			 Sunderland 12 12 14 16 11 19 15 10 11 
			 Isles of Scilly (37) (37) 1 (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 5 5 5 9 7 10 9 9 (37) 
			 City of Bristol 17 14 16 19 20 24 14 14 16 
			 North Somerset 8 8 9 12 11 10 9 10 10 
			 South Gloucestershire 7 7 9 10 11 11 10 8 10 
			 Hartlepool 3 4 4 3 2 4 3 3 4 
			 Middlesbrough 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 8 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 5 5 
			 Stockton on Tees 9 5 7 6 8 9 10 8 10 
			 City of Kingston Upon Hull 8 8 10 10 11 12 12 12 12 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 8 8 8 7 9 9 7 8 9 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4 5 5 6 6 5 6 7 7 
			 North Lincolnshire 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 
			 North Yorkshire 13 14 16 15 15 17 16 17 16 
			 York 7 7 7 8 8 9 7 8 9 
			 Bedfordshire 16 6 10 10 12 12 12 14 16 
			 Luton n/a 5 5 6 7 6 6 6 5 
			 Buckinghamshire 25 18 20 20 19 24 24 22 23 
			 Milton Keynes n/a 10 7 10 12 10 11 11 12 
			 Derbyshire 32 22 21 23 21 28 30 28 31 
			 Derby n/a 9 9 11 11 12 11 11 11 
			 Dorset 25 14 13 13 13 15 16 16 19 
			 Poole n/a 6 6 5 5 6 6 6 7 
			 Bournemouth n/a 4 5 6 6 6 8 8 7 
			 Durham 23 16 21 21 23 23 25 29 27 
			 Darlington n/a 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 
			 East Sussex 18 12 14 13 17 18 20 19 17 
			 Brighton and Hove n/a 7 7 8 8 12 13 12 12 
			 Hampshire 61 49 48 50 43 45 46 52 52 
			 Portsmouth n/a 11 9 14 11 10 11 9 8 
			 Southampton n/a 10 12 13 13 12 12 13 13 
			 Leicestershire 26 21 23 25 21 28 26 20 19 
			 Leicester n/a 13 13 13 21 23 20 22 26 
			 Rutland n/a (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) 
			 Staffordshire 28 21 20 22 19 23 24 25 28 
			 Stoke on Trent n/a 6 8 6 6 8 12 9 (37) 
			 Swindon n/a 6 5 7 7 6 7 7 8 
			 Wiltshire n/a 14 21 16 14 17 14 20 20 
			 Berkshire 21 20 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Bracknell Forest n/a n/a 3 3 3 2 4 4 5 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead n/a n/a 7 6 5 5 7 9 6 
			 West Berkshire n/a n/a 5 6 8 9 9 8 9 
			 Reading n/a n/a 4 5 5 6 8 5 5 
			 Slough n/a n/a 5 8 10 6 8 17 11 
			 Wokingham n/a n/a 5 5 5 6 8 8 7 
			 Cambridgeshire 20 20 19 18 17 17 17 18 18 
			 Peterborough n/a n/a 7 7 7 8 8 6 8 
			 Cheshire 30 28 19 24 18 21 18 24 25 
			 Halton n/a n/a 4 5 5 5 5 4 6 
			 Warrington n/a n/a 6 10 6 8 6 7 8 
			 Devon 35 33 21 19 22 27 26 27 30 
			 Plymouth n/a n/a 10 9 10 12 12 14 14 
			 Torbay n/a n/a 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 
			 Essex 63 61 46 48 52 58 57 51 47 
			 Southend on Sea n/a n/a 4 5 6 5 6 7 6 
			 Thurrock n/a n/a 5 8 6 6 5 7 6 
			 Hereford and Worcester 22 20 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Herefordshire n/a n/a 5 6 6 6 8 6 7 
			 Worcestershire n /a n/a 20 19 23 24 25 24 24 
			 Kent 56 50 38 44 42 44 46 42 41 
			 Medway n/a n/a 10 10 10 8 10 13 11 
			 Lancashire 55 52 41 43 42 38 40 43 43 
			 Blackburn with Darwen n/a n/a 8 9 8 6 7 8 11 
			 Blackpool n/a n/a 5 6 7 6 4 8 8 
			 Nottinghamshire 33 31 23 25 26 21 23 26 29 
			 Nottingham n/a n/a 9 9 15 15 16 13 14 
			 Shropshire(38) 13 13 (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) (37) 
			 Telford and Wrekin(38) n/a n/a 14 15 17 14 12 15 14 
			 Cornwall 13 13 13 13 13 13 17 18 17 
			 Cumbria 17 17 17 20 24 18 17 19 11 
			 Gloucestershire 9 9 18 18 19 22 23 22 23 
			 Hertfordshire 35 35 36 35 32 34 31 30 38 
			 Isle of Wight 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 7 6 
			 Lincolnshire 19 15 17 17 19 24 21 20 22 
			 Norfolk 24 22 24 21 21 20 18 19 26 
			 Northamptonshire 23 29 28 28 26 29 25 28 30 
			 Northumberland 9 9 9 15 9 17 11 14 13 
			 Oxfordshire 18 20 19 21 22 26 29 26 27 
			 Somerset 16 17 21 24 24 21 22 25 25 
			 Suffolk 16 20 20 19 19 20 20 18 20 
			 Surrey 34 31 31 34 37 39 38 39 41 
			 Warwickshire 15 15 18 20 16 16 16 17 20 
			 West Sussex 22 23 22 24 26 26 28 32 35 
			 England 1,768 1,788 1,867 1,929 1,954 2,020 2,026 2,105 2,156 
		
	
	n/a=Not applicable
	(36) Includes those on secondment for in service and initial training for Educational Psychologists.
	(37) Zero or less than one
	(38) Shropshire Educational Psychology service is shared with Telford and Wrekin. Numbers are shown under Telford and Wrekin.
	Source:
	Annual survey of teacher numbers and teacher vacancies, Form 618g

Examination Results

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what were the (a) A-level and (b) GCSE results for each school in Wansdyke constituency in 1995 and each subsequent year for which data are available; and what the average results were in those years for all schools in (i) Wansdyke and (ii) England.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		The proportion of 15 year old pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades in GCSE and equivalent qualifications in schools in Wansdyke parliamentary constituency, 1995 to 2005 
		
			  1995 1996 19971 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Broadlands School 27 32 35 40 43 47 
			 Chew Valley School 69 60 64 58 62 64 
			 Hanham High School 44 49 55 40 37 39 
			 Norton Hill School 50 52 47 55 49 63 
			 Sir Bernard Lovell School 33 47 46 44 55 56 
			 Somervale School 44 43 39 44 45 49 
			 Wellsway School 59 66 77 73 71 75 
			 Writhlington School 31 22 34 28 34 45 
			  
			 (i) Wansdyke average 45.2 47.4 50.2 48.8 50.1 55.2 
			  
			 (ii) England average 43.5 44.5 45.1 46.3 47.9 49.2 
		
	
	
		
			  2001 2002 2003 20042 2005 Number of 15 year olds, 2005 
		
		
			 Broadlands School 44 51 63 59 49 204 
			 Chew Valley School 65 66 68 69 75 180 
			 Hanham High School 43 44 54 42 56 186 
			 Norton Hill School 60 75 70 72 72 231 
			 Sir Bernard Lovell School 55 54 63 54 65 232 
			 Somervale School 57 41 38 33 50 162 
			 Wellsway School 75 82 75 69 79 222 
			 Writhlington School 47 43 59 54 62 150 
			  
			 (i) Wansdyke average 56.0 57.7 61.2 56.9 63.4 1,567 
			  
			 (ii) England average 50.0 51.6 52.9 53.7 56.3 636,796 
		
	
	(39) Percentages from 1996/97 include GNVQ equivalents.
	(40) Percentages from 2003/04 include GCSE and Equivalents which have been approved for pre-16 use.
	
		The average point score per candidate entered for GCE/VCE A/AS and key skills at Level 3 examinations in school in Wansdyke parliamentary constituency, 1995 to 2005 
		
			  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Chew Valley School 15.1 19.4 15.7 16.1 16.9 14.6 
			 Hanham High School 10.6 15.8 13.1 11.2 13.2 13.2 
			 Norton Hill School 14.0 13.1 15.3 15.8 13.5 14.2 
			 Norton Radstock College  3.4  8.7 6.2 8.0 
			 Sir Bernard Lovell School 10.1 11.3 14.1 11.2 15.0 15.9 
			 Somervale School 9.3 15.7 17.9 16.4 13.7 15.9 
			 Wellsway School 15.1 18.5 18.0 15.5 18.1 17.2 
			 Writhlington School 10.2 6.4 8.0 14.1 10.9 16.2 
			  
			 (i) Wansdyke average 12.8 14.9 15.4 14.6 15.1 15.3 
			  
			 (ii) England average 16.0 16.8 17.3 16.7 17.1 17.3 
		
	
	
		
			  20011 20021 20031 2004 2005 Number entered, 2005(42) 
		
		
			 Chew Valley School 16.0 249.4 224.4 278.0 269.3 84 
			 Hanham High School 12.4 208.0 197.4 249.2 190.9 34 
			 Norton Hill School 14.2 234.8 253.8 232.9 284.3 91 
			 Norton Radstock College 9.3 101.2 105.5 168.9 122.1 34 
			 Sir Bernard Lovell School 14.2 250.7 234.6 254.5 232.1 61 
			 Somervale School 15.1 214.0 227.3 239.0 246.9 55 
			 Wellsway School 17.6 253.6 253.6 280.9 255.2 114 
			 Writhlington School 15.3 188.8 261.0 314.8 284.7 38 
			  
			 (i) Wansdyke average 15.3 223.1 226.2 256.1 248.1 511 
			  
			 (ii) England average 17.4 254.5 258.6 269.2 277.6 264,166 
		
	
	(41) See notes for changes to the calculation of GCE/VCE point scores in 2001,2002  2003.
	(42) 1618 year old candidates entered for GCE/VCE A level qualifications
	GCE/VCE Point score calculations 1994/951999/2000: The average GCE A/AS point score per student entered for the equivalent of 2 or more A/AS examinations (figures from 1997/98 include Advanced GNVQs), with a point score based on the following tariff:
	
		Table 1
		
			 GCE A level GCE AS level Advanced GNVQ 
			 Grade Points Grade Points Grade Points 
		
		
			 A 10 A 10 Distinction 18 
			 B 8 B 8   
			 C 6 C 6 Merit 12 
			 D 4 D 4   
			 E 2 E 2 Pass 6 
		
	
	2000/01: The average point score per student entered for at least one A level or Advanced GNVQ, based on the points tariff shown in Table 1.
	2001/02: The average GCE/VCE A/AS point score per student. The point score for each grade are as follows (based on the UCAS points tariff).
	
		Table 2
		
			 GCE/VCE AS level GCE/VCE A level VCE Double Award Points 
		
		
			   AA 240 
			   AB 220 
			   BB 200 
			   BC 180 
			   CC 160 
			   CD 140 
			  A DD 120 
			  B DE 100 
			  C EE 80 
			 A D  60 
			 B   50 
			 C E  40 
			 D   30 
			 E   20 
		
	
	2002/032004/05: The average GCE/VCE A/AS and key skills point score per candidate. Points are as in Table 2 but with a key skill at Level 3 pass equivalent to 20 points.

Foundation Schools

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many foundation schools have partnership arrangements with (a) public and (b) private sector organisations.

Jacqui Smith: Schools of all categories are free to enter into a wide range of partnership arrangements. We do not hold detailed information centrally about the number of schools involved in every type of partnership with public, voluntary and private sector organisations. It is for individual schools' governing bodies to decide whether it is in the best interests of their schools to enter into partnerships.
	The specialist schools programme, in particular, provides opportunities for schools to work in partnership with public, voluntary and private sector organisations and with other schools. We expect that over 80 per cent. of all secondary schools will be specialist by September 2006, including a substantial proportion of foundation schools.
	More generally, the Government are committed to promoting partnership working through Education Improvement Partnerships (EIPs) or other forms of collaboration where this will deliver better outcomes for children. The EIP prospectus encourages partnerships to consider local needs and make alliances which will support the delivery of the outcomes identified. Partnerships should include all appropriate delivery partners, from the public, private or voluntary sector, dependent on the action which the partnership is undertaking.
	Foundation schools may have foundations, that is, charitable bodies which hold their land on trust and appoint governors. Voluntary schools also have foundations. Based on information provided by local authorities, we understand that 96 foundation schools have foundations, comprising around 11 per cent. of the total number of foundation schools.

Funding

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total further education budget for 19 plus education was in (a) 200405 and (b) 200506; and how much was allocated in each year to 19 to 24-year-olds (i) up to Level 1, (ii) up to Level 2, (iii) up to Level 3 and (iv) up to Level 4.

Bill Rammell: The total overall spend on all adult programmes for 200405 was reported in the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Annual Report and Accounts as 2,999 million. The funding allocated for the LSC's major education and training programmes only for adults for 200506 is 2,851 million, an increase of 183 million or 7 per cent. on the comparable figure for 200405.
	Information about the level of qualifications is only readily available for FE colleges and providers from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). For the most recently completed academic year, 2004/05, spend on young adult learners is as follows:
	
		Spend for 2004/05 --  million
		
			 Level Age 19 to 24 
		
		
			 Level 1 and below 193.0 
			 Level 2 124.6 
			 Level 3 172.3 
			 Level 4 or higher 6.0 
			 Unknown level 31.6 
			 Grand total 527.5 
		
	
	Source:
	ILR 2004/05 outturn
	Figures for 2005/06 are not yet available.

GEMS Education

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what meetings has (a) she and (b) her officials have had with GEMS Education; and what the purpose was of those meetings.

Jacqui Smith: In spring 2004 officials met with GEMS after they expressed interest in the Music Manifesto launch. Representatives of the Department met with GEMS on a number of occasions between February 2004 and June 2005 to discuss GEMS' potential involvement in the Academies programme. The first meeting took place on 10 February 2004, and related to the possibility of GEMS sponsoring an Academy in Barking and Dagenham. Two meetings occurred on 14 and 22 April 2004 to discuss this further. Meetings then took place between May 2004 and June 2005 to discuss the possibility of GEMS sponsoring Academies in Milton Keynes. These meetings occurred on: 4 May 2004; 17 June 2004; 18 June 2004; 21 March 2005; 20 May 2005; and 9 June 2005.

Higher Education

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made towards the target of (a) fair access to higher education and (b) reducing rates of non-completion to higher education courses.

Bill Rammell: In the past few years, we have seen a steady widening of participation in, and improving access to, higher education. Performance indicators published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that the proportion of entrants from disadvantaged groups has increased across a range of measures, as set out in the following table.
	
		Proportion of young UK domiciled entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK universities from disadvantaged groups(43)
		
			  Proportion of entrants to university from: 
			  State schools Lower social classes (IIIM, IV, V) Lower socio-economic groups (47) Low participation areas 
		
		
			 1997/98 81.8 24.9 n/a 12.1 
			 1998/99 85.0 25.1 n/a 12.3 
			 1999/2000 84.9 25.3 n/a 12.4 
			 2000/01 85.7 25.4 n/a 12.5 
			 2001/02 86.0 25.8 n/a 13.1 
			 2002/03 87.2 n/a 28.4 13.3 
			 2003/04 86.8 n/a 28.6 13.9 
		
	
	n/a=not available: The socio-economic group classification was introduced in 2002/03 to replace the social class groupings. The two classifications are not directly comparable. Figures for NI are available separately if needed.
	(43) SourcePerformance Indicators in Higher Education, published by HESA
	We have also made steady progress on reducing rates of non-completion. The latest available figures published by HESA are shown in the following table:
	
		Percentage of UK domiciled full-time first degree students expected neither to obtain an award nor transferhigher education institutions in the UK
		
			  Students starting courses in: Non-completion rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 1996/97 16.0 
			 1997/98 15.9 
			 1998/99 15.8 
			 1999/2000 15.9 
			 2000/01 15.0 
			 2001/02 14.1 
			 2002/03 14.4 
		
	
	Source:
	Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by HESA. For 2002/03, the projected outcomes summarise the pattern of movements of students at institutions between 2002/03 and 2003/04 and give the outcomes that would have been expected from starters in 2002/03 if progression patterns were to remain unchanged over the next few years. The HESA data show the proportion of entrants who are projected to: obtain a qualification (either a first degree or another undergraduate award); transfer to another HEI; neither obtain a qualification nor transfer (ie fail to complete the course).
	Figures published in 2005 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that in 2003 the UK had one of the lowest higher education non-completion rates among OECD countries.

Learning and Skills Councils

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the percentage change was in (a) 16 to 18 years and (b) 19 years plus budgets for learning and skills councils' sub-regions between 200405 and 200506, listed in ascending order.

Bill Rammell: I have overall responsibility for the LSC; however the operations of the LSC are managed and overseen by Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive. Allocations to regional and sub-regional levels are a matter for the LSC. Mark Haysom, LSC's chief executive has written to the hon. Gentleman with further information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
	The following table shows the changes in total funding of the LSC between 200405 and 200506 by region. Note that the LSC are unable to disaggregate all of the funding between youth and adult, as much of the funding allocated to local offices is not specifically age-based. The figures in the table do not include budgets allocated specifically to the LSC's national office and national programmes.
	
		
			Percentage change between 200405 and 200506 
			  200405 Total programme spend () 200506 Total programme budget () 1618 (Young people) 19+ (Adult) Contributes to both 1618 and 19+ Programme total increase between 200405 and 200506 
		
		
			 East Midlands 638,223 666,967 0.9 1.6 1.9 4.5 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 761,351 800,995 0.9 1.4 2.8 5.2 
			 Greater London 1,308,575 1,383,412 1.2 1.1 3.3 5.7 
			 North West 1,105,819 1,180,364 1.0 2.8 2.9 6.7 
			 West Midlands 903,395 965,788 0.9 2.1 3.9 6.9 
			 North East 452,745 485,127 0.1 3.7 3.3 7.2 
			 South West 716,639 773,026 1.0 3.1 3.8 7.9 
			 South East 1,100,731 1,192,261 1.9 1.0 5.4 8.3 
			 East of England 720,441 781,128 1.8 2.0 4.6 8.4 
			 Total 7,707,919 8,229,068 1.2 2.0 3.6 6.8 
		
	
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 30 January 2006
	Further to your recent question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills where you asked what the percentage change was in (a) 16 to 18 years and (b) 19 years plus budgets for learning and skills councils' sub-regions between 200405 and 200506, listed in ascending order. on, I am pleased to provide the following information.
	The attached tables show the percentage change between the financial years 200405 and 200506* in;
	(a) the LSC's 1618 budgets;
	(b) 19+ budgets;
	(c) and those budgets that are attributable to both 1618 and 19+ provision;
	I hope that you find this information helpful.
	* The Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) financial year covers the period 1 April to 31 March. Consequently the percentage changes relate to the 200506 budget as at 19th December 2005.
	
		Percentage change in LSC Budgets from 200405 to 200506Young people Budgets
		
			  Percentage change from 200405 to 200506 
		
		
			 Regional BudgetYorkshire and Humberside -106.3 
			 Regional Budget North East -100.0 
			 Regional BudgetGreater London -35.6 
			 Regional BudgetWest Midlands -19.5 
			 Regional BudgetSouth East -14.8 
			 Tees Valley -5.2 
			 Shropshire -4.2 
			 Norfolk -3.5 
			 South Yorkshire -2.8 
			 West of England -0.3 
			 London Central 0.3 
			 Nottinghamshire 0.3 
			 Tyne and Wear 0.4 
			 Greater Merseyside 0.8 
			 Black Country 1.2 
			 Somerset 1.2 
			 Northamptonshire 1.9 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 2.3 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 2.4 
			 Leicestershire 2.5 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 2.7 
			 Lancashire 2.7 
			 Cumbria 2.9 
			 Humberside 3.3 
			 Gloucestershire 3.3 
			 Essex 3.4 
			 County Durham 3.6 
			 North Yorkshire 3.7 
			 Surrey 3.9 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 4.1 
			 London West 4.3 
			 Cambridgeshire 4.4 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 4.5 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 4.6 
			 Derbyshire 4.7 
			 Staffordshire 4.8 
			 Northumberland 4.9 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 4.9 
			 Devon and Cornwall 5.1 
			 London South 5.1 
			 London East 5.4 
			 Sussex 5.4 
			 Greater Manchester 5.5 
			 Bedfordshire 5.5 
			 Berkshire 5.7 
			 Kent and Medway 5.9 
			 Hertfordshire 6.1 
			 London North 6.1 
			 West Yorkshire 6.2 
			 Milton Keynes, Ox and Bucks 7.0 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 7.0 
			 Suffolk 8.7 
			 Regional BudgetEast Midlands 21.6 
			 Regional BudgetSouth West 79.5 
			 Regional BudgetEast of England 184.8 
			 Regional BudgetNorth West n/a 
			 Total local/regional allocations 3.7 
		
	
	
		Percentage change in LSC Budgets from 200405 to 200506Adult Budgets
		
			  Percentage change from 200405 to 200506 
		
		
			 County Durham -11.2 
			 London West -10.5 
			 Sussex -8.8 
			 Surrey -8.5 
			 London South -6.0 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole -5.4 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland -2.2 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight -1.9 
			 Northamptonshire -1.2 
			 Bedfordshire 1.1 
			 Milton Keynes, Ox and Bucks 2.0 
			 Staffordshire 2.7 
			 South Yorkshire 2.9 
			 North Yorkshire 3.9 
			 Somerset 4.2 
			 Nottinghamshire 4.4 
			 Norfolk 5.8 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 6.6 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 7.3 
			 Gloucestershire 7.7 
			 Hertfordshire 9.2 
			 Humberside 9.6 
			 Shropshire 9.7 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 10.8 
			 Kent and Medway 11.9 
			 Tees Valley 12.5 
			 Greater Merseyside 13.3 
			 Suffolk 14.2 
			 London North 17.9 
			 London Central 18.8 
			 Cumbria 18.9 
			 Derbyshire 19.1 
			 London East 20.8 
			 Leicestershire 21.3 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 23.9 
			 Essex 24.6 
			 Berkshire 26.0 
			 West Yorkshire 29.7 
			 Regional BudgetNorth East 32.7 
			 Greater Manchester 32.9 
			 Devon and Cornwall 33.7 
			 Northumberland 36.0 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 37.4 
			 Black Country 39.5 
			 Cambridgeshire 45.0 
			 Lancashire 50.8 
			 Tyne and Wear 65.5 
			 West of England 100.2 
			 Regional BudgetGreater London 476.7 
			 Regional BudgetSouth East 1702.4 
			 Regional BudgetWest Midlands 25,086.4 
			 Regional BudgetEast Midlands n/a 
			 Regional BudgetEast of England n/a 
			 Regional BudgetNorth West n/a 
			 Regional BudgetSouth West n/a 
			 Regional BudgetYorkshire and Humberside n/a 
			 Total local/regional allocations 23.5 
		
	
	
		Percentage change in LSC Budgets from 200405 to 200506Contributes to both young people and adult learning
		
			  Percentage change from 200405 to 200506 
		
		
			 Regional BudgetNorth West -40,303.7 
			 Regional BudgetSouth West -38,020.5 
			 Regional BudgetNorth East -5,017.3 
			 Regional BudgetWest Midlands -1,027.6 
			 Regional BudgetGreater London -509.7 
			 Regional BudgetYorkshire and Humberside -364.2 
			 Regional BudgetSouth East 10.4 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland -7.7 
			 Derbyshire -0.4 
			 Bedfordshire 1.7 
			 Greater Merseyside 2.3 
			 North Yorkshire 2.8 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 2.8 
			 London West 3.1 
			 Cumbria 3.4 
			 London Central 3.8 
			 Northamptonshire 3.8 
			 Leicestershire 4.1 
			 Milton Keynes, Ox and Bucks 4.4 
			 South Yorkshire 4.8 
			 London South 5.0 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 5.3 
			 Tees Valley 5.3 
			 London North 5.4 
			 Tyne and Wear 5.4 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 5.5 
			 Greater Manchester 5.9 
			 London East 5.9 
			 Cambridgeshire 6.4 
			 Humberside 6.5 
			 West Yorkshire 6.5 
			 Somerset 6.6 
			 Black Country 6.7 
			 County Durham 7.1 
			 Lancashire 7.2 
			 Shropshire 7.6 
			 Suffolk 7.9 
			 West of England 8.3 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 8.5 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 8.5 
			 Nottinghamshire 8.6 
			 Kent and Medway 8.6 
			 Essex 9.1 
			 Gloucestershire 9.2 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9.4 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 9.5 
			 Norfolk 9.9 
			 Staffordshire 9.9 
			 Surrey 10.1 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 10.2 
			 Sussex 10.8 
			 Berkshire 12.0 
			 Hertfordshire 15.9 
			 Northumberland 18.9 
			 Regional BudgetEast Midlands 1,773.4 
			 Regional BudgetEast of England n/a 
			 Total local/regional allocations 6.1 
		
	
	
		Percentage change in LSC Budgets from 200405 to 200506Total Budget
		
			  Percentage change from 200405 to 200506 
		
		
			 Regional BudgetNorth West -32,269.3 
			 Regional BudgetNorth East -333.1 
			 Regional BudgetSouth West -132.9 
			 Regional BudgetYorkshire and Humberside -102.3 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland -2.2 
			 South Yorkshire 2.2 
			 Northamptonshire 2.6 
			 Greater Merseyside 2.7 
			 London West 2.7 
			 Bedfordshire 2.9 
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 3.2 
			 North Yorkshire 3.3 
			 Tees Valley 3.6 
			 Derbyshire 3.8 
			 London Central 4.3 
			 County Durham 4.3 
			 London South 4.3 
			 Cumbria 4.3 
			 Shropshire 4.8 
			 Norfolk 4.8 
			 Somerset 5.2 
			 Milton Keynes, Ox and Bucks 5.4 
			 Leicestershire 5.4 
			 Nottinghamshire 5.6 
			 Humberside 5.9 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 6.1 
			 London North 6.2 
			 Gloucestershire 6.7 
			 London East 7.0 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 7.0 
			 Surrey 7.0 
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 7.4 
			 Staffordshire 7.6 
			 Kent and Medway 7.7 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 7.8 
			 Black Country 7.8 
			 Sussex 7.9 
			 West Yorkshire 8.0 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 8.1 
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 8.3 
			 Greater Manchester 8.7 
			 Suffolk 8.9 
			 Essex 9.0 
			 Cambridgeshire 9.4 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9.9 
			 Lancashire 10.2 
			 Hertfordshire 10.5 
			 Tyne and Wear 10.5 
			 West of England 10.7 
			 Berkshire 11.0 
			 Northumberland 11.9 
			 Regional BudgetWest Midlands 38.2 
			 Regional BudgetSouth East 221.5 
			 Regional BudgetEast of England 353.2 
			 Regional BudgetEast Midlands 852.5 
			 Regional BudgetGreater London 1,263.8 
			 Total local/regional allocations 6.8

Media Coverage

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what analysis of national media coverage of education issues has been commissioned by her Department in the past 12 months.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 7 March 2006
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 558W.

Prison Education

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects the Learning and Skills Council to announce the award of contracts for the provision of education in prisons; what factors have affected the timing of the announcement; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council remains on track to confirm the successful tenderers by 31 March as planned. The main factor affecting this timetable is the post-tender negotiation which started on 16 January, to a timetable published on the Learning and Skills Council's website. Once negotiations are successfully concluded, announcements about contract awards can be made.

School Admissions Code

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether under the Education and Inspection Bill secondary schools will be able to seek reports from primary schools on (a) a child's (i) conduct, (ii) motivation and (iii) attendance and (b) on parents' attitude.

Jacqui Smith: Under the Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005, when a pupil transfers to a new school, the old school must send the pupil's educational record and common transfer file to the new school, within 15 school days. The regulations set out the minimum requirements for information which schools must include in the pupil's educational record and common transfer file. This, and any additional information held by the school, including information on pupil behaviour and attendance, must be transferred to the pupil's new school as part of the educational record. We have no plans to change or expand these requirements under the Education and Inspection Bill.
	Provision in the Bill will also strengthen the School Admissions Code by requiring admission authorities to 'act in accordance' with it. In future the Code will prevent secondary schools from making offers of places dependent on reports from the child's primary school.

School Food

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing the standards of the School Food Trust for food other than lunch in schools.

Jacqui Smith: The School Food Trust has provided advice to Ministers on standards that should apply to food and drink provided at times other than lunch. We are now seeking views on that advice from a limited number of key stakeholders in education, health and the food industry.
	We will develop a full RIA at the point that we seek cross Government clearance on the Department's proposals for new 'other' food and drink standards.

Schools (Brighton and Hove)

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much capital funding was allocated to schools in Brighton and Hove in each year since 199697.

Jacqui Smith: Details of capital allocations made to local authorities are held only from 199798 onwards. Capital Funding to Brighton and Hove local authority and its schools since 199798 are set out in the following table:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 199798 3.9 
			 199899 4.5 
			 19992000 6.1 
			 200001 8.2 
			 200102 29.2 
			 200203 6.9 
			 200304 7.3 
			 200405 13.4 
			 200506 5.5 
		
	
	Note:
	The 200102 figure includes 24.5 million for a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project. The 200405 figure includes one off funds for two Targeted Capital Fund projects totalling 6.7 million.

Schools (Brighton and Hove)

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in classes of 31 or more in (a) infant schools and (b) infant classes in primary schools in Brighton and Hove in each year since 199697.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is given in the table.
	
		Maintained primary schools (44): Number and percentage of key stage 1 classes with 31 or more pupilsPosition in January each year: 1997 to 2005 -- Brighton and Hove local authority area
		
			  Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher (45) 
			  Infant Schools All other primary schools Total primary schools 
			  Number of pupils:  Number of pupils:  Number of pupils: 
			  in classes of 31 or more pupils in all classes Percentage of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils (46) in classes of 31 or more pupils in all classes Percentage of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils (46) in classes of 31 or more pupils in all classes Percentage of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils (46) 
		
		
			 1997 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 1998 1,614 3,456 46.7 1,808 3,624 49.9 3,422 7,080 48.3 
			 1999 1,145 3,300 34.7 1,666 3,688 45.2 2,811 6,988 40.2 
			 2000 669 2,342 28.6 1,593 4,367 36.5 2,262 6,709 33.7 
			 2001 124 2,561 4.8 284 3,956 7.2 408 6,517 6.3 
			 2002 0 2,259 0.0 0 4,173 0.0 0 6,432 0.0 
			 2003 (47) 0 2,234 0.0 32 4,119 0.8 32 6,353 0.5 
			 2004 (47) 0 2,407 0.0 31 4,388 0.7 31 6,795 0.5 
			 2005 (47) 0 2,396 0.0 31 4,228 0.7 31 6,624 0.5 
		
	
	n/a=not applicable
	(44) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(45) Classes as taught during a single selected period on the day of the census in January.
	(46) The number of pupils in classes of 31 or more expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils in classes.
	(47) Includes reception classes.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Schools (Brighton and Hove)

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget was for the Brighton and Hove local education authority in each year since 199697.

Jacqui Smith: The available information is contained within the following table. Similar data are not available before 19992000.
	
		Total budgeted education revenue expenditure(48) by Brighton and Hove local authority since 19992000(49)
		
			  Budgeted education revenue expenditure(48) () 
		
		
			 19992000(49) 83,170,000 
			 200001 91,486,000 
			 200102 101,475,000 
			 200203 106,440,000 
			 200304 114,093,000 
			 200405 123,235,000 
			 200506 134,422,000 
		
	
	(48) Budgeted education revenue expenditure is drawn from local authorities' Section 52 Budget Statements submitted to the DfES. This is calculated as the gross elements of any grants lines plus the net elements of the remainder of the education revenue budget. Section 52 was introduced for the 19992000 financial year and consequently figures are not available prior to 19992000.
	(49) 19992000 figures exclude any budgeted capital expenditure from revenue (CERA).
	Note:
	Cash figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000 as reported by Brighton and Hove local authority as at 13 March 2006.

Special Educational Needs

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what requirements there are for special educational needs co-ordinators to undergo training in (a) special education needs and (b) autism;
	(2)  whether she plans to introduce minimum standards for training for special education needs co-ordinators.

Maria Eagle: School-based Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) are selected and appointed by head teachers. There is no specific SENCO qualification they would be expected to have, although we would normally expect a head to appoint someone with a proven track record of successful working with children with SEN and disabilities. Training arrangements for SENCOs would be for local determination, having regard to the knowledge, skills and experience of the person concerned, and the range and complexity of SEN represented within the school.
	The Department's SEN Code of Practice, published in November 2001, contains guidance on the role and responsibilities of SENCOs. The Teacher Training Agency, now the Training and Development Agency for Schools, also published a set of National Standards for SENCOs in 1998.
	In collaboration with the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN), the Department recently convened a series of discussion sessions for primary and secondary SENCOs, designed to identify aspects of good practice in relation to the SENCO role. The results of this work are being disseminated through NASEN publications and otherwise.
	With regard to autism, in 2002 we issued, in partnership with the Department of Health, Autistic Spectrum Disorder Good Practice Guidance. This offered a series of pointers to good practice aimed at schools and SENCOs.

Special Educational Needs

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were educated in special schools in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is given in the table.
	
		Special schools: Number (headcount) and percentage of pupils(50)position in January each year: 1997 to 2005England
		
			  Maintained special Non-maintained special 
			  Number(50) Percentage(51) Number(50) Percentage(51) 
		
		
			 1997 93,020 1.1 5,230 0.1 
			 1998 93,470 1.1 4,960 0.1 
			 1999 93,090 1.1 4,610 0.1 
			 2000 91,800 1.1 4,770 0.1 
			 2001 91,000 1.1 4,600 0.1 
			 2002 89,800 1.1 4,670 0.1 
			 2003 88,930 1.1 4,950 0.1 
			 2004 86,930 1.0 4,840 0.1 
			 2005 85,500 1.0 4,870 0.1 
		
	
	(50) Excludes dually registered pupils.
	(51) Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	Note:
	The number of pupils in special schools expressed as a percentage of the total number of pupils across all schools.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census
	Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient schools for children in their area and in doing so must have particular regard to the need for special educational provision. The Government set expectations as to the quality of this provision, as does Ofsted. But how these expectations are met is a matter for local decision, and for this reason, Government play no role in relation to LA school reorganisations or in respect of decisions to close schools.

Special Educational Needs

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education supervision orders have been carried out for children with a special educational need in England in each of the past five years.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect data on the number of Education Supervision Orders that are made.

Truancy

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of truancy levels in schools in (a) West Lancashire, (b) Lancashire and (c) England.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not hold data on the levels of truancy. However, the 2004/05 figures for the percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence (of which truancy forms a part) in maintained mainstream schools can be found as follows.
	
		
			  Primary Secondary 
		
		
			 West Lancashire 0.4 1.1 
			 Lancashire 0.34 0.93 
			 National 0.43 1.23

TREASURY

Civil Service Pension Schemes

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the rates of withdrawal have been from (a) the NHS, (b) teachers and (c) principal civil service pension schemes, broken down by age, sex and duration of service, in each year since 1997;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) of 8 November 2005, Official Report, column 330W, on pensions, whether the estimate of the proportion of public sector pensionable payroll in future years that relates to scheme members who join after April 2006 was made on the assumption that the probability of leaving service was independent of the length of service; what the evidential basis was for the assumptions underlying the estimate; and what rates of withdrawal from service were assumed.

Des Browne: Information is not available in the form requested without disproportionate cost. A note on the actuarial assumptions on future rates of withdrawal from active membership in the occupational pension schemes for the NHS, teachers and civil service will be deposited in the Library including that information which is readily available on recent experience of withdrawal from these schemes. These assumptions were used to estimate the proportion of the combined pensionable payroll relating to scheme members who joined after April 2006.

Inheritance Tax (Northern Ireland)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many estates in Northern Ireland inheritance tax was payable in (a) 1994 and (b) 2004.

Dawn Primarolo: In 200405, inheritance tax was due on approximately 500 estates in Northern Ireland. The corresponding figure for 1994 is not available.

International Monetary Fund

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the recent comments by the Governor of the Bank of England on reform of the International Monetary Fund.

Ivan Lewis: The Government believe that strong and effective international institutions make an essential contribution to supporting global stability and growth in the context of the changing global economy. The Government welcome the contribution of the Governor of the Bank of England to the debate about the future of the institutions. As the Chancellor has said for some time, reforms to the International Monetary Fund are needed to ensure it continues to be relevant and effective in ensuring the stability of the international monetary system and of the global economy.
	Specifically, IMF surveillance must be reformed to make it credible and authoritative so that it can have maximum impact on countries policies. There must be no possibility of conflict of interests between the IMF's surveillance and lending roles and no perception of political interference with the IMF's surveillance judgments. The Government will make proposals for the IMF to sponsor independent and transparent surveillance of national monetary and fiscal policies.

International Monetary Fund

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on reform of the International Monetary Fund.

Ivan Lewis: Representations are made to Treasury Ministers and officials on a wide range issues as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all submissions made to the Treasury.
	The Government continues to believe that strong and effective international institutions make an essential contribution to supporting global stability and growth in the context of the changing global economy. We will continue to work with others to pursue this agenda.

Parents

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the average age of the mother when a child is born to a lone parent was in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by region; and what research he has conducted on the equivalent figures in (a) EU and (b) G8 countries;
	(2)  what proportion of children born to lone parents had the name of the father registered at birth in the last period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 15 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the proportion of children born to lone parents where the name of the father was registered at birth, in the last period for which figures are available and the average age of the mother when a child is born to a lone parent in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by region, and what research has been conducted on the equivalent figures in (a) EU and (b) G8 countries. I am replying in her absence. (57841, 57842)
	Information on the family status of the mother and father is not collected at birth. Although there is no direct count of births occurring to lone mothers, ONS use the number of births that are registered solely in the mother's name, or registered jointly where the parents live at different addresses, as indicative of lone parenthood at the time of birth.
	In 2004, just over 111,800 births in the United Kingdom were either sole-registered, or jointly registered at different addresses (16 per cent. of all births). Of these, 55 per cent. were jointly registered, that is, they included the name of the father.
	The table shows the mean age of mothers for live births that have been sole-registered or jointly registered to parents living at different addresses.
	ONS have not conducted any research on the equivalent figures for the EU or G8 countries. However, you may be interested in an article by the academic, Kathleen Kiernan, entitled 'Childbearing outside marriage in Western Europe' which can be found in Population Trends 98. This was published in Winter 1999 and can be downloaded at the following web address. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/poptrends
	
		Mean age of mother for live births registered by mother alone or jointly registered by parents living at different addresses, United Kingdom 2004
		
			 Country and region of mother's residence Mean age 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 25.1 
			   
			 England 25.2 
			 Scotland 24.5 
			 Wales 24.3 
			 Northern Ireland 24.6 
			   
			 Regions of England  
			 North East 24.0 
			 North West 24.7 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 24.2 
			 East Midlands 24.6 
			 West Midlands 24.7 
			 East of England 25.3 
			 London 27.1 
			 South East 25.3 
			 South West 25.2

Parents

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what proportion of (a) male and (b) female lone parents are in (i) part-time and (ii) full-time employment;
	(2)  what proportion of (a) male and (b) female parents who are cohabiting with a partner, whether married or not, are in (i) part-time and (ii) full-time employment;
	(3)  how many (a) male and (b) female parents are who are cohabiting with a partner, whether married or not, of working age are in (i) part-time and (ii) full-time employment.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 15 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about lone parents and parents in couples in employment. I am replying in her absence. (57843, 57844, 57845)
	Table 1 shows the levels and percentage of lone parents with dependent children in full-time and part-time employment by gender.
	Table 2 shows the levels and percentage of married or cohabiting parents with dependent children, by whether working full-time or part-time by gender.
	Table 3 shows the levels of parents in couples of working age with dependent children, in by full-time or part-time employment, by gender.
	All 3 tables are covering the latest available period, which is the three months ending November 2005.
	Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistic's Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		Table 1: Lone parents(52) aged 16 and over by gender and whether working full or part-time(53) -- Thousand and percentage
		
			   Male Female 
			 Three months ending November 2005: Number of lone parents Levels Percentage(54) Levels Percentage(54) 
		
		
			 All lone parents 1,858 166 100.0 1,692 100.0 
			 All in employment(55) 1,026 111 66.7 915 54.1 
			 Full-time 540 94 56.8 445 26.3 
			 Part-time 486 16 9.9 469 27.7 
		
	
	(52) Refers to people who are not married or cohabiting and have dependent children, who are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, or 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
	(53) Based on respondents self-assessment.
	(54) As a percentage of all lone parents.
	(55) Includes those who did not state whether they worked full or part time.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey
	
		Table 2: Parents(56) aged 16 and over in couples by gender and whether working full or part-time(57) -- Thousand and percentage
		
			   Male Female 
			 Three months ending November 2005: Number of parents in couples Levels Percentage(58) Levels Percentage(58) 
		
		
			 All married/cohabiting parents 10,693 5,311 100.0 5,383 100.0 
			 All in employment(59) 8,651 4,815 90.7 3,836 71.3 
			 Full-time 6,220 4,614 86.9 1,606 29.8 
			 Part-time 2,429 200 3.8 2,229 41.4 
		
	
	(56) Refers to people who are married or cohabiting and have dependent children, who are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, or 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
	(57) Based on respondents self-assessment.
	(58) As a percentage of all parents in couples.
	(59) Includes those who did not state whether they worked full or part time.
	Note:
	Number of male and female partners are unequal because in some cases respondents supply information for only one of the partners.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey
	
		Table 3: Parents(60) of working age(61) in couples by gender and whether working full or part-time(62) -- Thousand and percentage
		
			   Male Female 
			 Three months ending November 2005: Number of parents in couples Levels Percentage(63) Levels Percentage(63) 
		
		
			 All married/cohabiting parents 10,647 5,279 100.0 5,369 100.0 
			 All in employment(64) 8,640 4,807 91.1 3,833 71.4 
			 Full-time 6,215 4,609 87.3 1,605 29.9 
			 Part-time 2,423 196 3.7 2,227 41.5 
		
	
	(60) Refers to people who are married or cohabiting and have dependent children, who are defined as 0 to 15-year-olds, or 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education.
	(61) Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 1659.
	(62) Based on respondents self-assessment.
	(63) As a percentage of all parents in couples of working age.
	(64) Includes those who did not state whether they worked full or part time.
	Note:
	Number of male and female partners are unequal because in some cases respondents supply information for only one of the partners.
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey

Private Schools (Charitable Status)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 1008W, on independent schools, if he will commission research to determine the extent of the loss to the Treasury each year as a result of the charitable status of private schools.

Ivan Lewis: There are no plans to commission such research.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Housing

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued to local councils on whether they will be obliged to set up accessible homes registers for disabled people looking for affordable homes under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 2 March 2006
	The Government recognises the benefits of accessible housing registers. The Code of Guidance on the Allocation of Accommodation (paragraph 6.11) recommends that housing authorities maintain lists of properties that are suitable for people with disabilities and other special needs groups, including accessible or significantly adapted local authority stock, and Registered Social Landlord and private sector properties to which local authorities nominate tenants.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working together with the Disability Rights Commission to strengthen the guidance on accessible housing registers as part of the revision of allocations code.

Building Regulations

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the effect on carbon emissions of (a) the extension of new standards for conservatories set out in Part L of building regulations, conservation of fuel and power, announced in September 2005 to all conservatories and (b) a requirement that the building of an extension should trigger consequential energy efficiency improvements to the existing building.

Yvette Cooper: Since 1985, ground floor extensions of buildings by the addition of a conservatory not exceeding 30m 2 have been exempt from Building Regulations. An Initial Regulatory Impact Assessment published by the ODPM in March 2002 assessed the options for potential removal or modification of this exemption but did not include any estimate of the carbon savings.
	The draft Regulatory Impact Assessment in the Part L consultation document published in July 2004 estimated carbon savings from work to existing buildings based upon 150,000 domestic extensions and 4 per cent. of the non-domestic stock being refurbished each year. It was not possible to consider the cost and benefits of 'consequential improvements'.

Building Regulations

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the impact of Part M of the Building Regulations on the design of new housing.

Yvette Cooper: A programme of research has been commissioned from the Building Research Establishment to evaluate the effect of the introduction in 1999 of controls on the accessibility of new dwellings. An interim report of that programme has been published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l163117. The final report of the programme is currently being evaluated and is expected to be published soon.

Carriers Use Class Order

Clive Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes he has made to the Use Class Order for Carriers; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 28 February 2006
	If the term Carriers refers to goods offices, then they are likely to be classified within the B use class of the Use Classes Order.
	There have been no changes relating to the B use class, or any changes relating specifically to Carriers, since the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002.

Dowry Arrangements

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health on the Greater Manchester primary care trust's decision to end the 'in perpetuity' dowry agreements with local authorities.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not had discussions with the Department of Health regarding Greater Manchester primary care trust's dowry agreements with local authorities. It is for local authorities and NHS providers to determine the best way to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities in their population. Primary care trusts should continue to transfer to local authorities funding associated with people who used to live in long stay hospitals.

Empty Homes

Michael Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the projected running costs are of the Empty Homes Agency's EMPRO website in the financial year 200607.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 2 March 2006
	EMPRO website is administered by the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and it is estimated that a minimum of 30,000 will be needed to maintain the website in the financial year 200607.

Empty Homes

Michael Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have subscribed to the Empty Homes Agency's EMPRO website; and what total fees have been collected.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 2 March 2006
	Local authorities subscribed to the EMPRO website include Birmingham and the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Kensington and Chelsea. The website was developed by local authorities in west London and launched as a pilot project in July 2004, with funding from the Government Office of London. Since then, the website has received fees of 5,000 from Birmingham council.

Empty Homes

Michael Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the operation of the Empty Homes Agency's EMPRO website since November 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 2 March 2006
	The EMPRO website is an innovative way of supporting work to bring empty homes back into use. The website seeks to put potential developers and others who want to purchase empty properties as an investment opportunity in contact with owners who may be persuaded that selling the property is the best course of action to bring it back into use.

Empty Homes

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects the empty property scheme to be implemented by (a) Swale borough council and (b) Kent county council.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 14 March 2006
	The Kent Empty Property Initiative, involving Kent county council and the four district councils of Dover, Shepway, Swale and Thanet, was implemented in April 2005 and launched publicly in November 2005. The Initiative has an overall target to bring 372 empty properties back into use by March 2008. From April they will be able to use new powers to bring empty homes back into use when Empty Dwelling Management Orders come into force.

Environmentally Sustainable Housing

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to encourage developers of new housing to build in an environmentally sustainable way.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 13 March 2006
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently approved new building regulations which set mandatory standards that every new home must meet. The regulations, which come in on April 6, raise energy efficiency of new buildings by 40 per cent. compared to 2002.
	In addition, in the light of the consultation on the Code for Sustainable Homes which closed on 6 March 2006, the ODPM has decided to strengthen the code to support further improvements in environmental standards of new homes.
	The ODPM is also giving consideration to further ways to increase the take-up of the code.

Firefighter Salaries

Andrew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the starting salary was for newly qualified firefighters in Oxford in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold details regarding the starting salary for newly qualified firefighters in Oxford centrally. The national pay and conditions of firefighters are negotiated by the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services. The figures set out show the salary of those firefighters newly becoming qualified/competent (not the starting salary).
	From 1996 to 2002 the qualified firefighter rate was as follows:
	
		
			  Amount () 
		
		
			 1996 17,823 
			 1997 18,678 
			 1998 19,725 
			 1999 20,121 
			 2000 20,724 
			 2001 21,531 
			 2002 22,392 
		
	
	From 2003 onwards the competent firefighter rate was as follows:
	
		
			  Amount () 
		
		
			 2003 23,959 
			 2004 25,000 
			 2005 25,850

Fires

John McDonnell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) accidental dwelling fires started by cigarette lighters by (i) children under the age of nine years, (ii) youths aged 10 to 17 years, (iii) adults of 18 plus years and (iv) other of unspecified age and (b) related casualties there were in (A) 2004 and (B) 2005.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows the data for financial years 200304 and 200405 in England. Data for calendar year 2005 are not available yet.
	
		Accidental dwelling fires started by cigarette lighters and related casualties by firestarter group, England, 200304 and 200405
		
			  200304 200405(65) 
			  Fires Fatal casualties Nonfatal casualties Fires Fatal casualties Nonfatal casualties 
		
		
			 Total 468 11 244 350 9 195 
			 Child (09 years) 339 5 203 225 6 136 
			 Youth (1017 years) 45 0 13 28 0 10 
			 Adult (18 years and over) 59 5 23 90 3 45 
			 Other 13 0 0 6 0 3 
			 Unknown 11 1 5 2 0 1 
		
	
	(65) Data for 2005 are provisional
	Source:
	Fire and Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.

Home Energy Efficiency

Tim Boswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to encourage consideration of efficiency in the use of (a) energy and (b) water in the construction of (i) new housing and (ii) commercial facilities in connection with his growth area strategy.

Yvette Cooper: Last September, I announced that the energy efficiency standards set out in Part L of the Building Regulations are being raised by around 20 per cent. for new housing and by up to 27 per cent. for commercial buildings; these changes come into effect from April 2006. In the response to Barker's review of housing supply published in December 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said that the ODPM would also regulate to achieve water efficiency savings. In addition the Code for Sustainable Homes will set environmental performance standards that are higher than those stipulated by regulation.
	The Growth Area programme is an opportunity to promote sustainable construction and can encourage higher standards by including sustainability as one of the key criteria for appraising applications for funding and through guidance to Local Delivery Vehicles.

Homelessness

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households were accepted as eligible for assistance for homelessness in Newcastle upon Tyne in each quarter from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005; and how many households left temporary accommodation in Newcastle upon Tyne in each quarter of the same period.

Yvette Cooper: The following table presents information reported by Newcastle upon Tyne city council in each quarter since January 2000 on the number of households under homelessness legislation which were accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty. The table also shows the number of households reported as leaving temporary accommodation which had been arranged by the council, or no longer registered as homeless at home, during each quarter.
	The duty owed by the local authority is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. As an alternative to the provision of temporary accommodation some authorities arrange for households to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available.
	
		Newcastle upon Tyne city council
		
			  Households accepted(66) as homeless Households leaving(67) 
		
		
			 2000   
			 January-March 98 44 
			 April-June 103 29 
			 July-September 91 28 
			 October-December 88 68 
			
			 2001   
			 January-March 98 20 
			 April-June 157 30 
			 July-September 141 30 
			 October-December 132 n/a 
			
			 2002   
			 January-March 128 n/a 
			 April-June 183 n/a 
			 July-September n/a n/a 
			 October-December 196 n/a 
			
			 2003   
			 January-March 216 n/a 
			 April-June 179 n/a 
			 July-September 266 n/a 
			 October-December 265 n/a 
			
			 2004   
			 January-March 292 n/a 
			 April-June 265 31 
			 July-September 278 n/a 
			 October-December 205 n/a 
			
			 2005   
			 January-March 158 n/a 
			 April-June 143 n/a 
			 July-September 140 77 
			 October-December 161 137 
		
	
	n/a=Information not reported.
	(66) Households found to be eligible for assistance, unintentionally unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category and, under 1996 Housing Act provisions, consequently owed a main homelessness duty.
	(67) Leaving temporary accommodation secured by the local authority under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996, or no longer registered as homeless at home during the quarter, and consequently no longer owed a main duty.
	Source:
	ODPM P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly)

Housing

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2005, Official Report, columns 6812W, on housing, whether the figures were (a) submitted by each local authority and (b) collected by his Department.

Yvette Cooper: The figures provided on Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) 64, were submitted by local authorities who are also responsible for publishing their performance data for BVPIs in their annual Best Value Performance Plans.

Housing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the Government has made available for housing in Coventry South in the last three years.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 6 March 2006
	It has not been possible to disaggregate figures for Coventry South. Over the last three years the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made available over 18,183,000 to Coventry as a whole. This split is as follows:
	
		
			  Amount () 
		
		
			 200304  
			 Housing Annual Capital Guidelines (ACG)  (before the introduction of the Regional Housing Board) 5,096,000 
			 Disabled Facilities Grant (DFGs) 865,000 
			   
			 200405  
			 Regional Housing Board allocations 5,283,000 
			 Disabled Facilities Grant (DFGs) (68)848,000 
			   
			 200506  
			 Regional Housing Board allocations 5,131,000 
			 Disabled Facilities Grant (DFGs) 960,000 
		
	
	(68) Includes 260,000 Kickstart funding.

Housing Repair Bills

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what was the (a) total and (b) average repair bill for non-decent (i) private-rented, (ii) owner-occupied, (iii) housing association and (iv) council housing in the last year for which figures are available.

Yvette Cooper: Data on the average cost to make a property decent by tenure is published in Table 3.1 in the 2001 English House Condition survey main report available from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1155281
	This cost covers only the expenditure required to make existing homes decent now and does not take account of work required to ensure current non-decent dwellings remain decent until 2010, work needed to deal with additional dwellings likely to become non-decent between 2001 and 2010 and additional important environmental and security work and disabled adaptations which do not impact on the standard as such.

Inter-council Partnerships

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to take steps to develop inter-council partnerships among smaller unitary authorities.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 13 March 2006
	We have launched a public debate about the best governance arrangements for local areas in the future and are interested to hear views on the merits of change and how it might be made. We plan to publish a White Paper on the future of local government in the summer.

Landfill sites

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the suitability of former landfill sites pre-dating the Control of Pollution Act 1974 for built development, with particular reference to new schools.

Yvette Cooper: Government policy is to bring brownfield land back into beneficial use where appropriate. When new development is proposed local planning authorities have specific responsibilities. These are set out in Planning Policy Statement 23 Planning and Pollution Control and its Annex Development on Land Affected by Contamination. They are expected to pay particular attention to development proposals for sites where there is reason to suspect contamination, such as from former landfill, and where particularly sensitive uses are proposed, including those involving children. When determining planning applications, local planning authorities should be satisfied that the site concerned is suitable for the new use and that the development does not create unacceptable risks. If a local planning authority is not satisfied on the basis of the information provided by the applicant, and available from other sources, including the responses of those consulted, planning permission should be refused.

Newcastle/Gateshead Pathfinder

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the agreed Strategic Commission for the Newcastle/Gateshead Pathfinder project; what the allocated programme of expenditure was for the Pathfinder in Newcastle/Gateshead in each Strategic Commission in each year since 200405; and what funding is proposed for (a) 200607 and (b) the next three years.

Yvette Cooper: The future programme and strategic commissions for the Newcastle Gateshead housing market renewal pathfinder have not yet been agreed. I will write to my hon. Friend when an announcement is made.
	The total housing market renewal funding for the pathfinder in 200405 and 200506 to date has been 47,641,250. It is not possible to break this down by strategic commission area as previous funding has not been allocated by the pathfinder on this basis. However, the breakdown by area development framework is shown in the following table, with the near equivalent strategic commission areas shown in brackets.
	
		
		
			  200405 200506 Total 
		
		
			 Newcastle East (Byker and Ouseburn and Walker Riverside) 3,894,895 3,135,638 7,030,533 
			 Newcastle North (North Central) 526,718 294,823 821,541 
			 Newcastle West (Scotswood, Benwell and Elswick Discovery Quarter) 10,986,934 9,693,012 20,679,946 
			 Gateshead (Dunston, Teams, Bensham and Saltwell, Felling Bypass, and Deckham) 9,942,974 9,166,256 19,109,230

Planning Appeals

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) instructions, (b) advice and (c) guidance his Department has issued to the Planning Inspectorate in the last 12 months with regard to speeding up planning appeal considerations.

Yvette Cooper: The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) was established as an Executive Agency of the Department of the Environment in April 1992. The chief executive is responsible for the effective management of the inspectorate in accordance with the framework document (which is currently under review) and in accordance with the normal civil service rules on propriety and securing value for money.
	The Planning Inspectorate is actively managing improvements to its own performance in arranging hearing and inquiry dates in the face of a continuing high level and variety of casework which places conflicting demands on the available inspector resource.
	Over the period 200102 to 200405, there was an increase of 37 per cent. in the number of planning appeals received. A particular feature of the increased work has been the bulge in appeal receipts that arose between November 2003 and May 2004. As a result of the increase in appeal receipts, a backlog developed. The Planning Inspectorate was tasked by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with clearing the backlog of cases which has been achieved by policy, procedural and other changes.
	As part of the Government's response to Kate Barker's Review of Housing Supply the Planning Inspectorate have adopted a target for planning appeals for proposals for 10 or more dwellings to open a hearing or inquiry within 20 weeks of the start date of the case and, in 80 per cent. of the cases, to issue a decision within 10 weeks of the close of the hearing or inquiry.

Regeneration

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to encourage the regeneration of small town centres in the North East.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 13 March 2006
	Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) deliver regeneration initiatives on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The North East's RDA, One NorthEast, has responsibility for delivering physical regeneration and development policies and strategies throughout the region.
	The Agency works closely with four Sub Regional Partnerships (Tees Valley Partnership, County Durham Strategic Partnership, Tynewear Partnership and Northumberland Strategic Partnership) to deliver a broad range of physical regeneration projects. These projects are aimed at improving the physical environment, transport and communication links and at increasing the availability of high quality business premises and development sites throughout the region.
	All the Sub Regional Partnerships have drawn together their own strategic vision for their areas within the context of the Regional Economic Strategy. They have mapped out action plans and investment programmes for spending the 'single pot' funds delegated to them by One NorthEast from its own budget. Their programmes include other funding available from European and National public sources.

Regional Spatial Strategies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what mechanisms the Government has established to ensure that cross-border issues are taken into account by regional assemblies when considering regional spatial strategies; and if he will make it obligatory for each regional spatial strategy to address cross-border issues.

Yvette Cooper: Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, when preparing a regional spatial strategy (RSS) regional planning bodies (RPBs) must have regard to the RSS for each adjoining area. Supporting regulations require RPBs to seek advice from any RPB; local planning authority; county council; parish council; and Regional Development Agency, where any part of their area is in or adjoins the RPB's region. The Countryside Agency; the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England; English Nature; and the Environment Agency, must also be consulted alongside any other body as the RPB considers appropriate.
	How policy matters have been taken into account in the draft RSS (including those that cross boundaries) will be addressed at an Examination in Public.

Sleeping Rough

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what definition his Department uses of sleeping rough.

Yvette Cooper: The definition of sleeping rough used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is: people sleeping, or bedded down, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters); people in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or bashes).

Town and Country Planning Act

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the operation of section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Yvette Cooper: Section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides a right to appeal against planning decisions and failure to take such decisions. The right of appeal against refusal of a planning permission is a long-established part of our democratic system. When comprehensive planning controls were first introduced in 1947, Parliament decided that developers should have a right to appeal to the Secretary of State against a decision, or failure to decide an application, which prevented them from developing their land and property as they wished. This right has been carried forward into subsequent legislation and has remained an integral part of the planning system.

Women's Refuges

Jo Swinson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what initiatives his Department (a) has implemented and (b) plans to implement to assist local authorities to make progress towards a target of one women's refuge bed to every 10,000 population.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 6 March 2006
	Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) 225, introduced on 1 April 2005, aims to assess the overall provision and effectiveness of local authority services in England, designed to help victims of domestic violence. It includes 11 questions covering a range of activities and is measured as a percentage score of the number of questions to which an authority can answer yes. Question 2 asks Is there within the local authority area a minimum of 1 refuge place per ten thousand population?
	In 2003 the Government announced major investment in refuge provision in England in 200306. A total of 32.1 million capital has been allocated (15.7 million through the Housing Corporation and 16.4 million from the Homelessness and Housing Support Directorate in ODPM), providing 427 units of accommodation.
	The allocation was based on bids made by housing associations to the Housing Corporation. The bids were needs led and based on local priorities identified by local authorities in consultation with local domestic violence agencies, with priority given to projects arising from local authority housing and homelessness strategy reviews.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Ascension Island

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's position is on (a) granting residents of Ascension Island permanent right of abode, (b) granting residents property rights with full legal title, (c) granting licences for commercial ventures on the Island, with particular reference to commercial air charters, (d) licensing commercial flights between St. Helena and Ascension if the former builds an airport and (e) the future of the Island Assembly's taxation and administrative powers; and if he will take steps to codify those powers in an agreement between the Assembly and British Government.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my noble Friend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, on 6 March 2006, Official Report, columns 52729 in response to parts (a) , (b) and (d) of his question.
	Regarding the remaining questions, a small number of commercial ventures exist on Ascension Island in addition to the user organisations. There is, at present, no Ascension Island legislation for the licensing of these commercial ventures. The Attorney General of St. Helena and dependencies, in his capacity as Attorney General of Ascension Island, has confirmed that in the event of a commercial dispute, the English Law of Contract would apply. Nor is there local legislation relating specifically to commercial air charters. In the absence of such local legislation, Air Safety Support International would regulate this activity.
	The Ascension Island Council does not have taxation and administrative powersit is an advisory body with executive authority vested in the Governor of St. Helena and dependencies. The Government does not believe there is a need to further codify these powers in an agreement between the Council and the Government.

Ascension Island

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who was consulted on the terms of reference for the 2005 economic study of Ascension Island.

Douglas Alexander: The terms of reference were drawn up in close consultation with Government Departments, the governor of Ascension Island, the previous administrator of Ascension Island, and the BBC and Cable and Wireless as user organisations.

Ascension Island

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what business case was made by the Overseas Territories Department when requesting authority to commission an economic study of Ascension Island in 2005.

Douglas Alexander: The economic study was commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in order to inform future Government policy towards Ascension Island. The study was intended to identify potential suitable governance models and give a realistic assessment of the possibility of economic development outside of direct Government financing. The study was paid for through the FCO Good Government Fund.

British Beef

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will encourage British embassies and diplomatic missions in Europe to serve British beef.

Douglas Alexander: British embassies, high commissions and other diplomatic missions in Europe actively profile British products, including in their commercial and other events. In deciding what food to serve at official functions, each EU post must balance the promotional benefits of serving UK produce with cost and availability. Our missions will continue to serve UK produce, including British beef, when it represents value for money to the British taxpayer.

Extradition Arrangements

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the United States Administration in relation to the implementation of revised extradition arrangements since 11 September 2001.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no recent discussions with the US Administration about extradition arrangements.

Guantanamo Bay

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the methods used by the US authorities to end the recent hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay prison; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Our ambassador in Washington and his team discuss counter-terrorism and human rights issues, including the handling of detainees, with the US authorities on a daily basis. These discussions have included the issue of the hunger strike by a number of detainees in Guantanamo. The US authorities have repeatedly told us that they are concerned to ensure the welfare of the detainees. We will continue to discuss detainee issues with the US authorities as necessary.

Israel (Borders)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is Government policy to regard the Green Line as the border of Israel.

Kim Howells: We continue to believe that, as the Quartet (EU, UN, US and Russia) has consistently made clear, final status issues can only be resolved through negotiations and agreement between the parties themselves. Under Phase III of the Roadmap, both parties will determine their permanent borders through mutual agreement. We share the Quartet's goal of a two-state solution with Israel secure within her borders and Palestine established as a viable, contiguous state. We shall continue to work to this end.
	The territory beyond the Green Line, which Israel occupied in June 1967, is occupied territory. UN Security Council Resolution 242 (1967), which the UK supported, calls for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict and the termination of all claims of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force.
	Settlement building on Palestinian land is illegal under international law and settlement construction is an obstacle to peace. The barrier's route should be on or
	behind the Green Line, and not on occupied territory. Construction of the barrier on Palestinian land is also illegal. We continue to raise both of these issues with the Israeli Government at all levels.

St. Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of cancer there have been on St. Helena over the last 30 years.

Gareth Thomas: I have been asked to reply.
	St. Helena's Senior Medical Officer advises that health data are available only for the years 2000 to 2005. The total number of cases of cancer diagnosed on St. Helena from 2000 to 2005 is 84. This total is broken down by year, as follows:
	
		
			  Cases of cancer 
		
		
			 2000 10 
			 2001 18 
			 2002 12 
			 2003 11 
			 2004 9 
			 2005 24 
		
	
	Data for the years 1975 to 1999 is held only on individual non-electronic health records and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

St. Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated cost of building the airport and associated facilities on St. Helena.

Gareth Thomas: I have been asked to reply.
	Our estimates have not been published, as to do so could commercially prejudice current procurement processes.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sudan to persuade it to co-operate more fully with the AMIS mission.

Ian Pearson: We regularly press the Government of Sudan to co-operate fully with the African Union Mission in Darfur (AMIS). My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development did so during his recent visit to Khartoum, as did my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, during talks with the Sudanese Foreign Minister in London last month. We will sustain this pressure.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the UK Government are responding to the cholera outbreak in Yei, Southern Sudan; and what support is being provided to the Government of Southern Sudan to address potential disease outbreaks.

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
	DFID has been closely monitoring the cholera outbreak in Southern Sudan since it began in late January. The outbreak started in Yei town in southern Sudan and subsequently spread to Juba and a dozen other towns further east and north. To date (12 March 2006) 212 people have died from the disease from a case load of 6,744. The recent outbreak and its subsequent rapid spread to neighbouring towns underlines the threat of disease while the imminent onset of the rainy season will serve to increase the difficulties faced by vulnerable people.
	DFID has been active in supporting the co-ordination of response efforts in the south and in monitoring the situation. The Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit managed by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) together with the World Food Organisation (WHO) have been at the forefront of coordinating the response to the outbreak. DFID has been working closely with OCHA providing technical advice, support and funding.
	Through the Emergency Response Fund (ERF) of UNOCHA, DFID has provided over $350,000 to eight UN agencies and non-governmental organisations assisting with the response to the cholera outbreak. An additional $750,000 of FID funds remain with the ERF for continued assistance to agencies if the disease spreads further.
	To date, the large number of returns of refugees and Internally Displaced People predicted by the UN and others have still not taken place. There is still potential or significant movement in the run up to the rainy season though this is considered unlikely.
	The outbreak of cholera has affected the returns programme. The return programme for up to 4000 people from Juba to Bor has been suspended because of fears of further disease transmission. With DFID support, various agencies are responding to the cholera outbreak at Lologo returnee way-station near Juba and at Bor way-station which currently holds approximately 1000 returnees. Other DFID supported initiatives include health education, containment centres, and water and sanitation initiatives.
	In addition to supporting such chronic and rapid onset emergencies, the UK is providing early and significant contributions to the UN 2006 Work Plan, from which the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator has already allocated over $40 million to the South, including an allocation of US$500,000 to the Emergency Response Fund. The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator additionally holds an emergency reserve of $10 million (to which DFID was a significant contributor) which could be accessed to scale up the response to the outbreak should the need arise.

Sudan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contingency plans are in place if the proposed travel ban and freezing of assets of Sudanese Government, militia and rebel leaders are not adopted by the UN Security Council.

Ian Pearson: At present our efforts are fully focussed on pressing for swift action by the UN Sudan Sanctions Committee, to impose sanctions against those who violate human rights or impede the peace process in Sudan. We will consider how to proceed in the light of developments in New York.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is Government policy to seek to indict those responsible for human rights abuses in Sudan for referral to the International Criminal Court.

Ian Pearson: The Government has consistently made clear that those responsible for the terrible crimes committed in Sudan should be brought to justice. The UK strongly supported UN Security Council Resolution 1593 that referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
	It is for the ICC to consider the evidence and to make decisions regarding the indictment of specific individuals.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government in (a) Khartoum and (b) Juba about the fulfilment of the International Criminal Court warrants served on the leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Lam Akol, on 3 February 2006. They pressed him to take steps to disarm members of foreign militias and of armed groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and apprehend individuals subject to arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
	Our ambassador in Khartoum also stressed the importance of full co-operation with the ICC with regard to warrants served on the LRA, when he met the First Vice President of Sudan and the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, in a meeting on 20 December 2005.
	The Government will continue to support the ICC as it takes forward its investigation, and to maintain pressure on all parties, including the Government of Sudan, to provide full co-operation as requested by the ICC and the UN Security Council.